


As fate would have it

by Valley_Of_Lilies



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Battle of Hogwarts, Drama, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fred Weasley Lives, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Prophecies, Quidditch, Romance, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama, Temporary Cedric Diggory/Original Female Character(s), bad timing, plot heavy, very self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26447884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valley_Of_Lilies/pseuds/Valley_Of_Lilies
Summary: There were a lot of things Lauren had expected to deal with as a teenager: School, Quidditch, the anxiety inducing uncertainty of the future and, of course, stupid boys.What Lauren hadn't expected were the Dark Lord rising again, a war looming on the horizon, being "blessed" with the rare gift of a true seer and falling in love with one of her childhood friends after having half of her bones broken during a Quidditch match.Yeah. That about summed it up.
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Original Female Character(s), Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter, its characters and stories, were created by J.K. Rowling and I do not claim ownership over anything concerning the Harry Potter franchise, nor do I earn any money from it. This story is for purposes of entertainment only.
> 
> Author's Note: Before we begin, I would like to say thank you for being interested in this story. It's been in the making for quite a while and is honestly more a gift to my teenage self. I completely spiraled down the Harry Potter rabbit hole again during times of quarantine and social distancing, this is the result. Thank you, teenage me, for keeping a plethora of notebooks, collecting ideas, which i was able to revamp a little and turn into… this.
> 
> Before you proceed, please be aware that English is not my first language. I try and edit everything to the best of my abilities, but it's always possible that something slips through. For that, I apologise.
> 
> This story is also posted on ff.net and wattpad, so this is all me.

To say Elizabeth Sherwin was exhausted would have been the understatement of the century. Elizabeth was beyond exhausted, her body in a state of constant fatigue, no Pepper Up potion in the world could mend. 

Having children was wonderful, the most wonderful thing to ever happen to her, Elizabeth would say if prompted. And she meant it. Still. The lack of sleep and the constant demand for attention, it did wear her down. Especially since Jonathan had his job at the Ministry of Magic, not able to support her much with raising the children.

Being an Auror was demanding, after all, Elizabeth knew that all too well. From a financial aspect, it definitely could've been worse, but the constant fear of having Jonathan directly at the frontlines was another completely different beast.

It was one beautiful afternoon, late October, Halloween, to be exact, the sun bathing the sitting room of the Sherwin family-residence in a warm golden light. Elizabeth sat on one of the cushy sofas, exhausted to the point of joining both her children in their nap. It had become rather hard to get Lauren to sleep during the day, being more than three years old, the little girl didn't take too kindly to being interrupted in her play time and being told to lay down and rest.

But Elizabeth had managed, she always did, in the end, completely without magic. Her mother would advise her toddler and infant safe potions, helping the children drift away for an hour or two, but no. Elizabeth refused every single time, no matter how much Lauren would fuss, no matter how long Michael would cry.

She had managed with Ethan, she would manage with the other two as well.

Still, not having Jonathan around, managing everything alone, Elizabeth sometimes felt rather overwhelmed. A war raging around them, her husband out in the field as an Auror, three children to raise in rather turbulent times. 

Ethan would be going to Hogwarts the coming year and Elizabeth was definitely not ready to let her oldest son go so soon.

Yes. Elizabeth felt overwhelmed most of the time, nowadays. Just like she did now. Lauren had been especially grumpy that day, kicking and crying and making a right fuss, not wanting her mother to leave her side, her little face red and blotchy from crying, green eyes glassy with tears. But Elizabeth had managed to put her foot down, sang lullabies and stroked Lauren's small head until the crying had stopped and the little girl was sleeping peacefully.

Outside the high window of their sitting room, there was a large and rather majestic looking maple tree, leaves in the most beautiful shades of red and orange and yellow. It was mesmerising, the sun behind the foliage casting dancing shadows onto the wall and Elizabeth felt exhaustion wash over her like a comforting blanket.

No, she mustn't fall asleep. Ethan would return from his friend's house soon, having gone Trick or Treating, she still had to prepare dinner, Jonathan would be back soon as well. But Elizabeth felt her vision flicker, spots dancing in front of her eyes.

It wasn't anything new, especially not now, during times of war, but sometimes Elizabeth wished her gift, being a true seer, that is, would have never presented itself. She had only been fifteen when she had her first vision, saw her grandmother die five weeks before it happened.

With time, she had learned how to live with this burden. Because that's what it was. A burden. Especially during times of war.

Her legs felt wobbly and unstable when she tried to stand up, knees buckling immediately.

She groaned, head spinning, "Not now…"

Unconsciousness took over her so quickly, Elizabeth didn't even feel herself crash onto the floor.

The scene changed, immediately and when she came back to it, Elizabeth was inside a house again, a familiar house at that.

The Potters' home in Godric's Hollow, she realised with a start.

Dread began to seep through her body, heart beating frantically in her chest.

Because no matter what, in her visions, someone always ended up dead. It seemed like a cruel trick of the universe, giving Elizabeth this gift, but burdening her with the knowledge of a life soon ending.

She was in the nursery, seeing Harry's little bed, his toys, the beautiful mural she had helped Lily paint the month before Harry was born.

That was over a year ago. Elizabeth could feel her chest constrict.

Lily was standing in the middle of the room, clutching little Harry to her chest. There was screaming coming from downstairs, tears were streaming down Lily's cheeks. 

James, Elizabeth realised with a start and turned towards the door, wanted to leave the room, see what was happening downstairs, but her legs wouldn't let her.

She would have to witness what was about to happen in this room, and wasn't allowed to go anywhere else. Lily in the meantime, had put Harry down into his little crib, crouching down in front of it. She gently pushed her hand through a gap in the bars, her fingers touching Harry's pudgy red cheek. 

Elizabeth was crying as well, she barely noticed.

"Mommy loves you a lot, Harry," Lily said in a whisper, smiled, her lower lip dangerously wobbling. She brushed the hair out of Harry's little face with gentle fingers, "she loves you so so much."

The door to the nursery was blasted open, splinters and debris shooting in every direction, Elizabeth flinching with the violent noise. Lily shot up in front of the crib, whirled around with her wand drawn, arms protectively raised.

Elizabeth could see it in her face, Lily was scared. She was so scared

"Foolish little girl," a cold voice cut through the air, a cloaked figure stepping into the room. Elizabeth felt ice cold fear creeping through her very being.

Voldemort.

He had found them. Someone had betrayed the Potters.

"Step aside!"

"No," Lily's voice was shaking, as much as the hand holding her wand, but she didn't budge, "no, not Harry! You will not lay a hand on Harry."

But to no avail.

Voldemort laughed, a high pitched and cold sound, void of any real emotion. He lifted his wand, green light exploding from it, hitting Lily in the chest.

She was dead before she hit the ground.

Elizabeth was screaming, barely able to tear her eyes away from her friend's dead eyes.

Harry was crying.

"He's just a child," Elizabeth pleaded, stumbling forward, knowing full well no one could hear her. It wouldn't have made a difference anyways, the Dark Lord did not offer mercy to anyone. Still, she couldn't help it.

Voldemort raised his wand again, pointing it at Harry and once again green lightning exploded from its tip.

But then something rather odd happened, that had Elizabeth gasp in surprise.

When the second curse hit Harry, there was another flash of green, brighter than the first time, filling the whole room with light, and Elizabeth had to shield her eyes from the sheer intensity of it. A few moments later, she opened her eyes again to the sound of Harry crying.

Voldemort's black robes lay crumpled on the ground, no sign of the Dark Lord to be found.

Elizabeth was shocked into silence.

"What-?" she asked, looking at the baby, seeing the lightning shaped scar on Harry's forehead, tears spilling out of his large green eyes.

"Elizabeth!"

The world started blurring again, she felt how someone shook her shoulders, heard someone call her name.

"Elizabeth!"

Jonathan.

That was Jonathan's voice.

Elizabeth took a shuddering breath and opened her eyes.

She was lying on her back on the sitting room floor, Jonathan kneeling beside her, worry etched onto his features. Elizabeth was breathing heavily, only realising now that she was crying, her face wet with tears.

"Are you okay?" Jonathan asked, gently helping her sit up.

Elizabeth thought about Lily and James and Harry, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks, sobs threatening to rip her chest apart.

"No," she sobs into Jonathan's Auror robes, his arms encircling her shaking body.

Lily. James.

They would die. Probably tonight.

The Dark Lord would fall.

And there was absolutely nothing Elizabeth could do about it, for she made a promise to Albus Dumbledore, that, whatever she might see, she would not interfere.

"Prophecies are, by their nature, self fulfilling," the headmaster had once told her, when she was still in school herself, learning about her gift for the very first time. She had looked at Dumbledore, back then, sitting in his office, with wide eyes and a pounding heart. "There is absolutely nothing you can do to change their outcome, Miss Longbottom. Please, always remember that."

"Lauren," Elizabeth suddenly said, voice thick with tears, heart still beating a mile a minute. She heard her daughter all but scream for her from her room.

Jonathan helped her up and together they made their way to their crying daughter. Elizabeth was filled with dread, even heavier than before.

She knew for herself that the burdens of a true seer were indeed heavy to bear, especially with a gift as powerful as hers. She knew Ethan hadn't inherited it, luckily, and for Michael it was too hard to say, the little boy barely six months old.

But when she opened the door, seeing Lauren sitting in her bed, her face once again red from crying, her little body shaking with sobs of "Mummy, auntie Lily, auntie Lily," Elizabeth knew.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Lauren Sherwin promised she would not cry. She really promised, did a pinky-swear with her brother Ethan, told her father she would be a big girl, be brave and make him proud. 

But oh, was it  _ hard _ .

At first, it wasn't. Not at all. The morning had begun, calm and early, at the Sherwin-residence, her mother finished packing Lauren's big Hogwarts trunk, her father, Jonathan, downstairs in the kitchen, drinking a cup of strong Earl Grey, studying the morning paper.

Lauren sat on her bed, watching her mother, Elizabeth, folding her new robes neatly, packing them in with the rest of her clothing, books and other things. Her new owl, a beautiful barn owl named Louis, was sitting in his cage, head tucked neatly under his wing and peacefully sleeping.

Then, Lauren wasn't sad. Or nervous. Not really, at least. Her mum was still there, so was her dad and both her brothers. She could hear Ethan, her older brother, a recent Hogwarts-graduate, playing with her younger brother, Michael. Michael, three years younger than Lauren herself, was squealing with laughter, while Ethan was chasing him around the kitchen, roaring like a dragon.

It was normal, it was home. There was nothing to be nervous about then.

Only, when it was time to leave, when Elizabeth closed the heavy trunk with a thud and levitated it down the stairs with a flick of her wand, Lauren began to feel that tingle of nerves in her stomach.

Of course, she was really looking forward to going to Hogwarts. Both her mum and dad, and Ethan also, had told her many great stories about the school, the castle, the forbidden forest. About Quidditch and classes and all the teachers they had had.

Lauren really hoped she would be able to play Quidditch, she loved Quidditch, her mother taught her how to fly almost before she taught her how to walk.

She was excited. She really wanted to make friends and finally learn how to use magic. With her wand, of course, her brand spanking new wand.

"Yew and a core of unicorn tail hair, twelve inches," Mr. Ollivander had said, before handing Lauren the wand, "a curious wand for a curious young witch."

It had felt like coming home, Lauren thought, when her fingers closed around the dark wood, the swirling silver inlay worked into the handle, cool to the touch. Warmth had flooded her, had made her skin tingle, from head to toe.

"Oh," Mr. Ollivander had smiled, eyes alight with happiness, when light blue sparks erupted from the tip, dancing through the shop like tiny little butterflies. "It looks like we found a match."

Lauren had only put her wand away for eating and sleeping purposes. She knew she wasn't allowed to use magic outside school, but still. That wand was now a part of her.

But at this moment, it was tucked away safely in the inside of her coat, while Lauren was watching her parents set up the floo for their trip to the Leaky Cauldron. 

Her father went through first, taking the big trunk with him. Next would be Lauren with Ethan, followed by her mum with Michael and Louis.

"Don't worry, pipsqueak," Ethan grinned when he saw his sister look around their living room with big watery eyes, "you'll be back for christmas. And by then you will have such a great time, you won't even want to come back."

Lauren, feeling her chin beginning to wobble just a little, did beg to differ. But no, she promised she would be brave. This was exciting, she was finally going to Hogwarts, she was a big girl now.

And big girls didn't cry, right?

It also wasn't like she didn't want to go to Hogwarts. She was very much looking forward to it. But she knew she would miss her family an awful lot and the prospect of being away from them was not something Lauren could get behind as of now.

She gave Ethan's hand a squeeze and he gently pulled her into the emerald green flames of their fireplace, before flooing them to the Leaky Cauldron.

Lauren hated flooing. It always made her terribly nauseous. Side along apparition was even worse. But, they had to get to London somehow and flooing was safe enough for the whole family and Lauren's luggage.

When she stepped out of the fireplace again, Ethan cast a quick scouring charm to get rid of ash and soot staining their clothes, pulling Lauren along as not to block the exit for Elizabeth and Michael.

It was always loud at the Leaky Cauldron. Many witches and wizards were there, eating, drinking, talking. Lauren had been here quite a few times, sending Ethan off to school each year, or for a quick lunch while visiting Diagon Alley, but it was still quite overwhelming, especially now with so many families arriving in London to send off their children to Hogwarts.

Now it was her turn.

"Lizzie, Lizzie, over here!"

Lauren barely realised her mother had stepped out of the fireplace, a very pouty Michael right behind her (he  _ really  _ wanted to go to Hogwarts, too and he wasn't too happy about having to wait another three years before he could go), when she heard Molly Weasley shouting her mother's name across the pub.

It was quite the commotion, the Sherwins and the Weasleys, meeting at the Leaky Cauldron with both their families, Elizabeth and Molly hugging each other, loudly laughing, as if they hadn't seen each other in years. In reality, it hasn't been two whole weeks.

"Oh, there she is, Lauren, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, a wide smile on her face, pulling Lauren into a bone crushing hug.

Lauren has always loved Molly. She was warm and friendly, smelled of fresh soil and homemade cookies and her hugs felt like a comforting blanket. It was good that she and her mum were such good friends.

"Are you excited, first year at Hogwarts?" Molly asked, lovingly squishing Lauren's cheeks and she was barely able to answer, so she only nodded. Molly smiled, giving Lauren's cheeks one last pat. "You will have a wonderful time, I just know it."

It helped, Lauren thought, Molly's warm words. Then Arthur hugged her, lifted her off the ground. She laughed, nerves all but forgotten, if only for a moment. She saw Percy, sitting at one of the tables, nose buried deeply into a book. Next to him Charlie, playing exploding Snap with Fred and George who waved excitedly at Lauren when they spotted her. 

The twins would start Hogwarts with her and Lauren would lie if she said it didn't ease her mind just a little bit. Sure, Fred and George were a handful, driving their mother up the walls and sometimes further. But they were also her friends, having spent countless summers together at the Burrow or her own home, growing up together.

When everyone was present and greetings were exchanged, the adults began collecting their children and loading up Arthur Weasley's old but magically enhanced Ford Anglia for the drive to King's Cross station.

It didn't take long, especially not with a magical vehicle like Arthur's and they reached the station in no time, squeezing into a parking space in one of the side alleys as not to attract too much attention to their rather loud and rather prominent group.

"Nervous, pipsqueak?"

Lauren almost jumped when Ethan began speaking, standing right next to her. She was watching the parents unload the heavy Hogwarts trunks from the car and onto the trolleys her father had collected, clutching Louis's cage like a lifeline.

Lauren swallowed, a lump having formed in her throat. 

"A little," she finally admitted, knowing she couldn't lie to Ethan. He always saw right through her when she tried.

"Don't be," he said, ruffling Lauren's dark hair, which made her swat at his hand indignantly. "You'll be fine, pipsqueak. Hogwarts is a great place, you'll make lots of new friends very soon."

"I hope so," Lauren mumbled, trying to smooth out her hair again. 

Ethan chuckled, helping her straighten the royal blue bow holding up half of her tresses.

"You also have Fred and George, you won't be alone, okay?"

Lauren looked at her brother, feeling her throat closing up just a little. It was almost embarrassing how well he'd always been able to read her, even better than their mother. But he was right, of course, Lauren wouldn't be alone. 

"Come on, Lauren, the train won't wait for you," one of the twins, Fred, most likely, called over his shoulder, as if he'd heard Ethan, and only then Lauren realised that everyone had moved on. Ginny and Michael were sitting on the trunks on the trolleys, still light enough to be pushed, looking very pleased with themselves.

They made their way through the train station, pushing through the barrier to platform 9 ¾, one after the other, trying to not direct too much attention to their large group. Lauren went with Ethan again, clutching her big brother's hand for dear life.

The big scarlet steam engine was impressive, Lauren felt her jaw drop just a little when she saw it, puffing out thick clouds of white smoke. But she didn't have much time to marvel. Everyone was pushing through, one by one, their fathers then handled the trunks while the mothers were fretting over their children, hugging and kissing them, Molly handing out homemade sandwiches.

"Write whenever you can, okay?" Elizabeth said, hugging Lauren tightly. Lauren nodded into her mother's dark hair, trying hard not to cry. Standing in front of the train with parents and students milling about, owls hooting and cats hissing, everything felt so much more real than this morning.

"I will," Lauren promised, her voice wobbling.

Of course Elizabeth noticed, squeezing Lauren even tighter. "You're such a brave and smart girl, Lauren, you will have so much fun at Hogwarts."

"The trunks are loaded, you need to go, pipsqueak, it's almost eleven, they're going to leave without you," Ethan said from behind their mother, amusement in his voice at his sister being barely able to leave.

"Come on Lauren, we found an empty compartment," one of the twins called out to her and when Lauren looked up, Fred and George were all but hanging out of one of the train's windows, identical grins on their freckled faces.

Elizabeth let go of her daughter and Lauren hastily rubbed her eyes, hoping no one saw the tears that slipped down her cheeks.

Ethan smiled down at her. "Ready for the big adventure?"

Lauren nodded, hugging her big brother around the middle and Ethan ruffled her hair again with an amused chuckle.

"I will miss you," she said into his stomach.

"I'll miss you, too, little one," he said, gently prying her off of him, "but you really need to go now."

There was the sound of a whistle echoing across the platform, another "Lauren!" from the train and Jonathan grabbed his daughter to all but throw her through the still open door. Lauren almost stumbled, the door closing behind her, the train slowly setting itself into motion.

She scrambled for the compartment Fred and George were in, bolting for the window the two boys were still hanging out and waving from. Lauren managed to squeeze herself in between them, furiously waving herself, her family and the Weasleys on the platform slowly moving away from them.

"Study hard, behave yourself" Elizabeth called out, wiping her face with a handkerchief, "and write a lot, darling!"

With that all too familiar lump in her throat, Lauren watched her family, still waving wildly, become smaller and smaller until they were completely out of sight. The Hogwarts Express had left the station, now on its merry way to Scotland.

Just when they were about to settle down, the door to their compartment opened and a girl with blonde pigtails stepped inside.

"Can we sit here?" she asked and only then Lauren could see the other girl behind her, really short with a long auburn plait. "Everywhere else is full."

The blonde girl introduced herself als Emily Fawcett and as it turned out, she lived by the same village as the Weasley family, Ottery St. Catchpole, only right on the other side.

"I'm from Sheffield," Jessica, the girl with the auburn hair, squeaked, bounced up and down excitedly. "My parents were so shocked when I got my letter, think my mum almost fainted. A witch in the family, can you believe that?"

Lauren liked Jessica and Emily. For a moment she considered if it was truly wise to form friendships before being sorted into their houses, but then she remembered her parents and what they had told her all the time.

"Inter-house friendships are really important, Lauren," her father had said, just this morning. "No matter what house people are from, try and make friends with them." And of course he would say that. After all, he had been a Gryffindor, while her mum had been in Ravenclaw. Despite being in different houses, they still managed to fall in love and get married. Plus, her mum was good friends with Molly, ever since they went to school together.

They spent the train ride stuffing their faces with sweets from the snack trolley, Jessica's eyes lighting up with joy at the magical treats, Lauren and the twins telling her all about the wonders and mysteries of Hogwarts. Right before they reached Hogsmeade station, the girls left for the restrooms to change into their uniforms.

"This is so exciting," Jessica said, bouncing up and down when they finally stepped out of the train, students climbing out chatting merrily. It was dark already and they couldn't see the castle from down here, but Lauren had to agree. This really was exciting and her stomach erupted with nervous butterflies.

"So, how will we get sorted into the houses?" Jessica asked when they all huddled together, following a giant bearded man, Hagrid the gamekeeper someone had said, to a big lake.

  
"We have to fight a big and dangerous troll," Fred piped up behind them. 

George added, "and if you can't make it, you'll have to go home."

Emily next to Lauren blanched. "Fight a troll? That's a lie, we don't have to fight a troll, right?"

George snickered. "Of course we do, how else will they see which house we fit best."

"Stop it," Lauren interrupted, when Fred began to describe in vivid detail how they'd set up an arena where everyone would watch and Jessica looked like she might actually faint. "We won't have to fight a troll, just sit on a stool and wear the Sorting Hat."

"You're no fun, Lauren," Fred whined, poking her in the ribs and Lauren giggled like a maniac.

They reached the lake and a small army of boats on its shore, Hagrid telling them to climb into them in groups of three. Lauren, Jessica and Emily carefully boarded one of the boats together, the twins taking the one next to them with a boy that introduced himself as Lee Jordan, being quite disappointed that the rumor of the troll was a dud.

But all of that faded into nothing when the boats set themselves into motion and after a few moments, the castle finally came into view under a great chorus of  _ Ooooohs  _ and  _ Aaaaahs _ .

Lauren had seen images of Hogwarts, but none of them did the castle justice, not with how it was sitting there atop the hill, windows alight like the brightest stars in the sky, giving the old stone walls an otherworldly glow. 

"This is our school?" Jessica asked, voice in complete awe, eyes wide as saucers.

"Yes, it is" Lauren grinned, barely able to take her eyes off the castle, her nervousness from this morning completely gone. 

They crossed the lake and the boats made their way into a tunnel, the first years were told to deboard and follow Hagrid into the castle. Lauren couldn't stop gaping. The entrance hall, the staircase, everything was marvelous. A teacher named Professor McGonagall took them under her wing after Hagrid delivered them into the castle and bode them to follow her into the Great Hall, after giving them some first instructions.

"This is amazing," even Fred and George said when they stepped into the great hall, seeing the enchanted ceiling and the thousands of candles lighting up everything. 

They were made to stop right before the wide stairs to the teacher's desk and Professor McGonagall brought out an old rickety stool, setting the Sorting Hat on top, which didn't look any better. Lauren knew about the annual tradition of the hat singing a very special song and again, the nervous butterflies were wreaking havoc in her stomach.

Emily was the first of their little group to be called up, right after "Diggory, Cedric," who went to Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall's sharp "Fawcett, Emily," making the girl jump as if electrocuted. Emily looked really white when she sat down on the little chair, but the hat had barely touched her head when it shouted "Ravenclaw!"

The table on the far right of the hall exploded with cheers and Emily, now with a wide relieved smile on her face, made her way to her new house. After a few other children, "Pierce, Jessica," was called up. It took the hat a little longer to decide where to put her, Jessica looking a little worried and a little confused, but finally, the hat let out a resounding "Ravenclaw," and Jessica joined Emily at the Ravenclaw table.

Lauren had barely time to be worried. After Jessica was only one boy (Pucey, Adrian, going to Slytherin) and it was her turn, Professor McGonagall's loud "Sherwin, Lauren," caused her heart to again start wildly thundering in her chest. She felt the twins encouragingly clapping her shoulders and with wobbly knees, Lauren walked up to the old stool.

"Oh, another Sherwin," a little voice in her head said when the hat touched her crown. "Interesting."

"What's interesting?" Lauren asked, nervous, feeling her hands grip the stool tightly.

"There is a lot of curiosity and thirst for knowledge, oh yes, definitely," the hat muses, "and your mother was a wonderful Ravenclaw, wise beyond her years, that she was, with a powerful gift that you wield as well."

Lauren was confused. "A gift?"

But the hat didn't answer, continued its musings. "But there is also a lot of courage and the wish to prove yourself, like your father and brother, who brought glory to Gryffindor in their time."

Lauren swallowed, nervously.

"But what about me? Where do I belong?"

The hat chuckled. "Yes, a curious one you are, I know where you'll do your best, in Ravenclaw." The last words were obviously said out loud, because again, the Ravenclaw table broke into excited cheers and Lauren felt a weight lifted off her shoulders.

With a big smile she joined Emily and Jessica at their new house table, sitting together with a few other first years that had already been sorted.

"We're all in the same house," Jessica squeaked, excitedly, "it must be destiny!"

Lauren's enthusiasm faded just a little when the twins got sorted as the last children on the list, both getting into Gryffindor in an instant. Of course, it wasn't too much of a surprise, considering the whole Weasley family had been sorted into that house. 

Still. Lauren had wished to share her classes and the same common room with her friends.

But then the feast began and Lauren's mind was taken off of her slight disappointment, copious amounts of delicious food appearing on the before empty platters and bowls, meats and vegetables and desserts piling high and only then she realised how hungry she was.

Fred and George waved excitedly at her from the Gryffindor table, both with chicken legs in their hands and Lauren had to grin, feeling a little silly for truly doubting that being in different houses could actually disrupt their friendship.

Nothing could. Ever.


	2. You win some, you lose some

Roger was nervous, Lauren could see it in his eyes and in the way he hid his hands behind his back to prevent the team from seeing them twitch. No matter how much he tried to seem confident and optimistic, the tense set of his jaw gave him away.

"Potter has a Firebolt," he said and the team looked at him, expecting him to go on, but Roger only swallowed.

"Potter has a Firebolt," he said, again, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, multiple times.

"We know, Davies. Everyone knows," Emily, sitting next to Lauren, said and Lauren could hear in the slight tremor in her voice that she would like to be annoyed, but was too nervous to be so.

Of course they knew Potter had a Firebolt. Penelope Clearwater had basically screamed it into their faces this morning at breakfast, finding it out from Percy Weasley, her beloved boyfriend and then sneaking a peek herself.

"And it's not like Potter isn't good without his Firebolt, he's been a menace from day one," Lauren added, tried to get her bouncing leg under control. There were about fifteen minutes left until the game would start and she'd rather get it over with as soon as possible. All this nervous energy building up inside of her wouldn't do her very good on the pitch.

Silence fell over them again. Next to Lauren, Cho's leg was bouncing in sync with her own.

"I won't be able to outfly him," Cho said, face looking just a little white. "I can try and tag him, but if he sees the snitch first, it's game over."

Roger nodded, lips as thin as McGonagall's when she was especially cross. "We'll do it like we did during practice. We have our formations down and just have to try and outscore them."

Cho was good. She was a really good flyer and had made some spectacular catches in their past matches. But she flew a Comet 260 which looked absolutely ridiculous against a brand spanking new Firebolt.

Any broom looked ridiculous against a Firebolt.

"Gryffindor has a good team, there is absolutely no denying it," Lauren said, Emily next to her pressed out a choked laugh ("No kidding," she said), "but we're good, too. Look what we did to Hufflepuff."

"Plus we only lost to Slytherin by a narrow margin," Emily added, looking defiant. "We only lost because they had the better brooms and were playing really dirty."

Roger closed his eyes. For a moment, Lauren was worried he might vomit. He didn't, though, only looked at them, that old determination in his eyes.

"We can do it," he finally said, color returning to his cheeks. "We worked hard, we practiced, no matter the weather. We're a good team and we  _ can  _ beat Gryffindor today and win the Cup at the end of the season."

Michael, Lauren's younger brother who played Keeper for his first season, sitting at the far end of the bench, whooped loudly. 

"We have a chance ," Roger continued, now in full on captain mode, his piercing blue eyes sparkling with newfound excitement. "If we win this, we have a real stab at winning the cup. Cho," he said, looked at their seeker and Cho sat up straight, looking at the captain with rapt attention.

  
"Keep Potter busy," Roger said, and Cho nodded, grimly. "He's good, yes, he has a Firebolt, yes, but you're good as well, or you wouldn't be sitting right here. Catch his attention and just try and finish this quickly."

Cho gave him a wicked smile and a small salute. "You can count on me, captain."

Roger looked pleased. "Emily, Lauren," he said, fixed them with a grim stare and Lauren sat up a little straighter. "We're a good team. We can fly our formations and manage our passes with our eyes closed. Their chasers are good, but so are we."

"Aye aye, captain!" Emily roared, everyone was whooping now, cheering in excitement.

Lauren grinned. The energy in the changing room had shifted, confidence. That's what they felt. They needed it. Gryffindor was good. Potter was an excellent seeker, their chaser trio very well attuned. Fred and George were, of course, working almost as a single brain and Wood was still an exceptional keeper.

Still.

The Ravenclaw team was nothing to scoff at, either.

"Okay, team, let's do this!"

When they stepped out onto the pitch a few moments later, there was nothing left of the anxious energy from before. Lauren's pre game adrenaline kicked in the moment her leather clad feet hit the grass, when the cheering of the gathered crowd washed over them. Her broom seemed to vibrate in excitement right along with her. 

The weather was excellent. A clear, cool day, only a very light breeze ruffling the air. Perfect conditions for flying. The Gryffindor team stepped up to the middle of the pitch right with them, everyone looking to be in a very good mood, their scarlet red robes a stark contrast to the royal blue of Ravenclaw.

Lauren let her eyes wander over them while Roger and Wood met in the middle to shake hands. She caught Fred looking at her and she could see the same sort of excitement sparkling in his eyes that she herself felt. He winked at her, Lauren pulled a face and he laughed, silently.

It's been like that ever since she and the Weasley twins had made it into the Quidditch teams of their respective houses. Friends they had remained, to Lauren's eternal gratefulness, her worries on day one of her Hogwarts career nothing but smoke and mirrors. But when it came to Quidditch, it was every man for themselves.

Of course she noticed Potter's broom. Everyone did. The Firebolt was beautiful, even from a distance Lauren could see how well made it was, the broomstick gleaming in the sunlight, polished to perfection, not a single crooked twig in its tail.

Lauren didn't have time to marvel at the Firebolt. Madam Hooch gave them the signal to mount their brooms, then released the Bludgers and the Snitch, holding the red Quaffle in her hands.

Lauren looked at Emily who was already grinning at her, waiting for their traditional pre-game fistbump. Excitement making Lauren's stomach flutter when her leathered knuckles touched Emily's.

Then, Madam Hooch's whistle sounded over the cheers of the crowd and Lauren kicked off the ground hard, eyes already locked on the Quaffle sailing through the air. She reached for it and grabbed it, Angelina Johnson almost crashing into her, trying to get the Quaffle before her.

But Lauren's brain had shut off completely, her body working on instinct and muscle memory alone.

So the game began.

It was going well.

Or at least better than Roger had dreaded. Gryffindor were in the lead, but only by a few points. Cho was hard at work distracting Potter as much as possible, giving her teammates more time to score. They had lost the snitch once already.

Lauren was confident. She had already dodged a few well aimed Bludgers directed at her, had done a few well practiced maneuvers with Emily and Roger and she was quite positive that this could really work.

Cho only needed to keep Potter off the Snitch for long enough.

But of course, Quidditch was unpredictable and one moment of brashness, of being not alert enough could prove to be a fatal mistake.

She was flying straight for the goal, Quaffle under her arm, eyes on the prize. She barely heard Emily's frantic, "Lauren, Bludger!"

Of course, she had no time to react. Lauren barely even heard the telltale whizzing of the Bludger, as it zoomed towards her, hitting her clean at the back of her head.

It didn't hurt, Lauren thought, when suddenly, the world was packed in cotton and everything seemed to be in slow motion. Her head felt weird, though. The Quaffle dropped out of her arm, the appendage suddenly not obeying her anymore, her grip on her broom slipped as well, fingers not listening to he, her whole body just sliding off sideways.

Suddenly, she was falling, the bright green grass of the Quidditch pitch coming ever so close. Lauren heard Emily scream her name again, but it sounded so far away.

Lauren felt herself fall, but her vision faded to black before she hit the ground.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

"What happened?"

Lauren's throat felt as dry as sandpaper and she wasn't sure the words she thought she spoke were actually spoken or just a gargled sound. Her head hurt. Her legs hurt. Her whole body hurt.

"Merlin's beard, Lauren!"

There was shuffling next to her, the rustling of paper, a book dropping to the floor, heavily. Lauren had opened her eyes, but they felt crusty and sticky and the room she lay in was way too bright.

It took a few moments, but slowly, everything came into focus.

"I'm at the hospital wing?" Lauren asked, croaked, then she blinked, trying to move her aching head towards where Emily and Jessica were no doubt sitting.

"Yes, the hospital wing," Jessica said, voice soft as if sensing the splitting headache that threatened to tear Lauren's skull apart.

"You've been out for the past two days," Emily said, "missed the whole monday of classes."   
  


Lauren groaned. Of course Emily would be concerned with that. She almost appreciated Emily's no-nonsense attitude, but right now, the least Lauren worried about were classes. Jessica seemed to be on the same page.

"She missed classes?" she asked, eyes round and mouth wide open. 

Emily rolled her eyes. "And Sirius Black snuck into the Gryffindor common room with the passwords your genius of a cousin Neville had lying around on a little piece of parchment and almost killed Ron Weasley with a giant knife."

She looked at Jessica with an obvious "Are you happy now?"-kind of look in her eyes.

"Sirius Black?" Lauren asked, pretty much shellshocked, when her friends didn't break their staring match, "Sirius Black in the Gryffindor tower? He managed to actually get in? I've been out like a light while a crazy mass murderer is out and about on a midnight stroll through Hogwarts?"

"Correct," Emily said while Jessica looked like she was about to cry.

"It was so scary," she shuddered, "I barely slept that night."

"She almost worried herself sick," Emily added, "because you were the only one at the hospital wing, with only Madam Pomfrey as your guard."

Lauren was speechless for a moment. But weirdly enough, it fit right in with the theme of the past few years. A troll in the dungeon, the weird disappearance of Professor Quirrell, the Chamber of Secrets. Now Sirius Black roaming the castle.

"I know, it's a lot," Jessica finally said, patting Lauren's hand, which was still wrapped in gauze. 

"Okay, that's all nice and well, but, what about the match?" 

Jessica rolled her eyes, apparently immensely disappointed by Lauren's skewed priorities. "That is what you're worried about? The match? You were unconscious for two nights with a plethora of broken bones, Sirius Black is in the castle and you worry about a stupid Quidditch game?"

Emily and Lauren ignored her. 

"We lost," Emily said and Lauren could hear the disappointment in her voice, "spectacularly."

Lauren didn't really want to know, but at the same time she did, morbid sort of curiosity.

"How spectacularly?"

"Well," Emily said, pointedly and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "After you fell, the game was paused until you were off the pitch. Then we continued. Without you, of course."

Lauren felt her face scrunch up.

Emily grunted and it sounded like a weird and strangled half-laugh. "Yeah. I thought so, too."

"Hope it didn't last long after that."

"It didn't," Jessica piped in, telling her how Malfoy and his cronies had stepped onto the pitch, dressed as dementors, trying to scare Potter off his broom. But instead, the boy had produced something that almost looked like a patronus, then catching the snitch immediately after.

"Not bad," Lauren admitted. "Seems like another chance lost at the cup."

Emily hummed in agreement, Jessica just looked at her, lips set in a pout.

"Funny how you haven't asked what actually happened to you. You know? Your own body? How you almost died?"

Lauren could basically hear the eyeroll in Emily's voice when she said, "she did not almost die, Jess."

"She had a fractured skull and both her legs were broken, and her wrist, her shoulder and her collarbone," Jessica snipped, digging her elbow into Emily's side. "Weasley almost killed you with that flying cannonball."

"Oh come on, it's Quidditch," Lauren groaned, "things like that happen all the time. Whoever of the two hit me with that Bludger did not try to kill me. Besides, there is no bone that Madam Pomfrey can't fix."

"Well," Jessica said, sounding huffy, "Fred's been here multiple times already, asking if you are alright. He seemed to be feeling rather bad about what happened."

"True," Emily confirmed, "especially after the Black incident. Before that he was partying with the other Gryffindors. As he should," she added, especially for Jessica, looking at her, but Jessica was inspecting her nails.

Lauren looked at them, squinting.

"Why would he do that?"

"Why would he do what?"

Lauren squinted harder. "Feel bad about knocking me off my broom. He does that all the time. It's Quidditch."

"I don't know," Emily said.

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Because he almost killed you and he knows it."

Lauren opened her mouth to protest further, but right in this moment, Madam Pomfrey swooped in with a bright, "Ah, Miss Sherwin, you're finally awake."

The matron shooed Emily and Jessica out of the hospital wing, claiming Lauren needed rest and a check up.

"Do not worry," were her parting words, "your friend will be back to class by tomorrow."

Good, Lauren thought. She had had enough Quidditch related accidents in the past and has spent enough time at the hospital wing to know that it got boring really quickly. Madam Pomfrey was strict with visitors on a good day, if she saw fit, no one was allowed to see her patients.

Madam Pomfrey cast some diagnostic spells, felt the bones that were mended, asked Lauren a few questions and was happy when Lauren told her that all she felt was slight discomfort and a really bad headache.

"Then you will be fine, Miss Sherwin," she said. "I will bring you dinner, some medication and then you can have another good night's rest."

Now that Madam Pomfrey mentioned food, Lauren felt her stomach rumbling. Her throat was also completely parched.

No wonder, she had spent the past 48 hours asleep in this bed.

Lauren heard the door to the hospital wing open again, but couldn't see who was coming in. Maybe Jessica and Emily tried to sneak back in to keep her some company, Lauren would surely appreciate it. She heard Madam Pomfrey's busy steps, the crisp rustling of her skirts.

"Mr Weasley," she said shrilly, clearly indignant at the late hour of this visit. Lauren didn't hear the rest of the conversation, but it seemed to work in favor of her visitor.

A few moments later, Madam Pomfrey stepped around a partition, blocking Lauren's view of the door, a lanky redhead in tow. "But only for a few minutes, Mr Weasley, Miss Sherwin needs peace, quiet and, above all, rest."

Fred rounded the corner behind the matron and Lauren should have known it's him. She was just surprised that George was nowhere to be seen.

"Please, Madam Pomfrey," he said, an exaggerated expression of shock gracing his features. "I would never willingly disturb Miss Sherwin's precious time of rest."

It was obvious that the older witch was not at all impressed, but she didn't say anything, just sent Fred another warning glare and bustled away.

"Hey," Fred said after a few moments of silence. He looked at her with an expression that was half amused and half pained. Like he didn't really know what to say or do. Which was weird, Fred Weasley always knew what to say or do. Always.

He settled for a plain old, "how are you feeling?" and took one of the chairs, formerly vacated by Emily and Jessica.

Lauren shrugged. "Okay, I guess? Madam Pomfrey patched me up just fine and I will be able to go to class again tomorrow."

Fred made a face, looking rather pained. "That's not a great prospect. Maybe you should re-break your leg to get another day of peace?"

It was obvious that he was joking, but Lauren still tried to swat his arm. She missed, of course, Fred sitting too far away for her to reach him.

"We have O.W.L.s to take, in a few months and contrary to a certain someone," she looked pointedly at him, Fred pretending not to notice, "I really want to do well. I need the right N.E.W.T.s to become a healer, I can't slack off now."

"You really want to do this, huh? Become a healer?"

Lauren nodded. "Absolutely."

"I'm sure you'll be brilliant," Fred said with a smile and he sounded so sincere, that Lauren didn't really know what to say. She only felt goosebumps erupt on her arms.

There was a small pause, but not an uncomfortable one. Weird, because Fred kept looking at her like _that_ , an expression on his freckled face Lauren had never ever seen before, something she couldn't place and she didn't really know what to say. But not uncomfortable.

"Ah," Fred suddenly said, as if remembering something, before scooting closer and pulling a brown paper bag out of the depths of his robes. "Here. An offering of peace to appease the wrath of the great goddess."

Lauren took the bag and laughed. "What's there to appease? I'm not wrathful, I'm a rather lenient deity when it comes to my subjects."

Fred chuckled at that, but he suddenly looked a little sheepish, not able to meet her eye anymore.

"It's an apology, if you want to see it like that."

Lauren lifted a brow. "An apology? For what?"

"You know exactly for what," Fred said, gestures around the room, the bed she's lying in. Lauren rolled her eyes, albeit fondly.

"Fred," she sighed, still not having opened the bag. "It's Quidditch. You made a great move that secured your team victory. You have nothing to be sorry about. It's not the first time a Bludger brought a player to the hospital wing, it certainly wasn't for me. I don't deserve special treatment, just because we're friends."

"I am, though, sorry, that is," he said, completely serious now and he looked at her like  _ that  _ again, and Lauren didn't know what to say or think. Suddenly, she couldn't stand looking at him, something in her chest tingling.

Instead, she opened the bag and had to suppress an actual moan.

"Merlin's beard, Fred," she said, reverently. "You brought me éclairs?" 

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs, fingers touching the white linen on her bed. "I know they are your favorite, it's the least I could do."

"You nicked them from the kitchen, didn't you?" Lauren asked when she realized that the dough is still warm and crispy, the chocolate still gooey. She took one large heavenly bite, rich and creamy vanilla custard all but exploding onto her tongue, mixing with the soft and melty chocolate. "Merlin, I love you. You're the greatest friend ever, you can knock me off my broom whenever you feel like." Lauren closed her eyes blissfully, missed the way Fred swallowed and looked away.

He huffed out a laugh, sounding embarrassed, but Lauren was too engrossed in devouring both éclairs in record speed to notice. "Don't let Emily and Jessica hear that."

Lauren hummed, too blissed out to notice anything really. "Or George," she said, took another big bite, "can't let him know I have a favorite twin."

Again, Fred laughed, looked away. "Yeah," he said , softly, Lauren almost didn't catch it, "can't have that."

It didn't take long for Madam Pomfrey to appear by Lauren's bed again, insisting on Fred leaving the hospital wing so that her patient could get the sleep she desperately needed. She tutted when she saw some runaway crumbs on Lauren's otherwise pristinely white blanket, obviously not happy with Fred having brought in the scrumptious treat.

"You should go," Lauren whispered while Madam Pomfrey threatened to physically remove Fred herself if he did not get his legs in motion right about now. And while Fred was quite a lot taller than the short woman, he knew just too well that the matron was not to be trifled with.

"Yeah, I really should," Fred said, but still makes no move to leave.

"-so late, it's almost past curfew, Mr Weasley, I have to insist."

It's as if he didn't hear her.

"Night, Lauren," Fred said, softly, gave Lauren a lopsided smile, before he turned around and followed a still muttering Madam Pomfrey.

Fred had long since gone when Lauren finds her voice again.

"Night, Fred," she said into the empty room, trying to understand what the hell had just happened.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

As it turned out, Lauren wasn't allowed to leave the Hospital Wing the following morning, as her headache had gotten worse over night and she began being violently sick in the early hours before dawn. 

Madam Pomfrey had rushed in, haphazardly throwing on her dressing gown, while Lauren was retching and coughing for dear life. Apparently, the Bludger to her head had done more damage than initially thought and the matron did a few more diagnostic spells, gave Lauren a few more potions to swallow, careful not to have her spit them out in an instant.

Something minty and fresh helped against the nausea and Madam Pomfrey had given Lauren more against her headache. Lauren felt herself drift off again after a while, everything being pleasantly fuzzy, like her head had been wrapped in a thick layer of cotton.

Soon, she fell asleep again, dreamless and deep.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Waking up and feeling much better, Lauren saw Jessica and Emily at her bedside again, both looking rather worried.

"Madam Pomfrey says you still have a bad concussion, she'll have to keep you here for a few more days," Jessica said, looking rather teary eyed.

"Mostly to have an eye on you, just in case," Emily added, looking quite worried herself. "You got knocked out quite badly this time round."

"Ugh," was the only thing Lauren could add to the conversation, closing her eyes and rubbing them until she saw stars dancing across her vision. "I will die of boredom"

Something was dropped onto her thighs. "I thought you might say that."

Lauren could basically hear the eyeroll in Emily's voice when she said, "I'm sure she doesn't want to read  _ that _ ."

"What is it?" Lauren asked, blinking rapidly, curiosity drawn to what made Emily so obviously annoyed.

"Trashy muggle romance novels," Emily said when Lauren picked up the book, studying the cover with interest. There was a woman in a long flowy dress, her chest threatening to pop out of her cleavage anytime. A man with a half open white shirt and flowing dark hair was holding her, while they shared a passionate kiss.

"Trashy and  _ smutty  _ romance novels," Jessica added sagely. "It's a bit of light reading for your poor little head. Emily wanted to bring you your books and give you her notes so you can catch up with all the materials you missed."

She laughed, as if the mere idea was so ridiculous she barely believed Emily even considered suggesting it.

"It's better than nothing, I guess," Lauren shrugged, right when the bell rang, announcing the end of the lunch break her friends had used to see her.

  
"We'll be back after dinner," Jessica promised, Emily half dragging her out of the Hospital Wing so that they wouldn't be late for Transfiguration. "Have fun with the book!"

But instead of reading, Lauren heard Madam Pomfrey swoop in for another check up and a light lunch, the matron very pleased with Lauren's progress, compared to last night. She gave Lauren another potion, making her that comfortable sort drowsy again and soon, Lauren was sound asleep.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

_ "What does he have that I cannot provide?" Damien asks, a quiver in his voice, "what can he give you that I cannot give you?" _

_ Eve knows she has to be strong, she knows she can't give in to his desperate pleas, no matter how much her heart aches for him, no matter how much her soul yearned for his touch. _

_ "Eve, answer me!" _

_ There is the faint rumbling of thunder in the distance, darkness falling over the castle, like a suffocating blanket and Eve feels like she's being swallowed whole by a monster with dark claws. _

_ "Damien, please, you have to let me go," she whimpers, barely able to look at him, his steely grey eyes fixed on her face, "give up on me, forget me, leave and live your life, far away from this place." _

_ This place and this dangerous prince who desired Eve as much as he desired Damien dead. _

_ But at the same time, Eve doesn't want Damien to leave, thinks back to their last night spent together, a shiver running down her spine, the remnants of desire threatening to make her burst into flames right then and there. It's almost as if- _

"What are you reading?"

Lauren flinched so violently, that she tossed the book straight across the room with a startled yelp, only to look into the very amused face of one Fred Weasley.

"Merlin's lacy underpants," Lauren hissed, clutching her chest, feeling her own heart thunder against her ribs violently, "do you want to scare me to death?"

Fred grinned, not even pretending to feel sorry about Lauren's misery. "You looked so enraptured, I couldn't resist."

All Lauren could manage was an annoyed huff and an eye roll that would have made Emily proud. Quite the difficult task, considering her heart started thudding loudly against her chest, this time though for a completely different reason.

"Anyways," she said, trying to steer the topic away from her being so absorbed in a smutty romance novel, that she didn't hear the door open and Fred sneaking in. She also didn't want to think about that she had almost blushed just then and there. And not because of her novel.

"What are you doing here? It's way past visiting hours, if Madam Pomfrey sees you, she's going to open you up and pickle your organs to use them as remedies."

Fred looked oddly amused at the threat. "That's specific. You sure you didn't hit your head or something? You're talking nonsense, Sherwin."

"Ha, ha, bloody, ha," Lauren deadpanned, "you know damn well what happened to my head."

Fred looked sheepish at that and Lauren had half a mind to tell him again that she didn't hold any grudges, what happened at Quidditch happened at Quidditch. Losing to Gryffindor yet again had been more painful, if she was completely honest.

"So," Lauren said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, eyebrow raised, "what brings me the honor of your esteemed company at this late hour, Mr Weasley?"

Fred chuckled. "Lots of big words for such a small person, Sherwin."

Lauren snorted rather unladylike, her mother would have thrown a right fuss. "We can't all be walking talking beanpoles."

"Beanpole?" Fred asked, looking very convincingly offended. "You call me a beanpole? If I were a Muggle, they'd call me Adonis, I think your eyes are broken."

"No one calls people Adonis anymore, Fred, not even Muggles."

"Alright, take your pick, anything that immediately tells people how big and strong I am."

Fred grinned and wiggled his eyebrows rather obnoxiously, Lauren waved him off, really not wanting to think about any of Fred's body parts at all, not now or ever.

"Shut up and give me those éclairs you're hiding in your robes. I can smell them."

At that, Fred laughed, loud and bellowing and only then Lauren realised that he had cast a silencing charm around them, the faint buzzing telling her Madam Pomfrey would surely not come rushing in any second because they had woken her up.

  
"How come George never visits me? Are you the only one with visiting privileges?" Lauren asked, making greedy grabby hands towards the paper bag.

"He's standing watch outside the door," Fred said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. "We're good at not being seen when we don't want to be, but Madam Pomfrey is a right hawk. Can't be too careful with her."

  
"True," Lauren mumbled, mouth filled with custard. "Tell him I miss his ugly mug, I'm rather tired of only seeing yours."

Fred grabbed his chest rather theatrically. "You wound me, Lauren. Does the time we pooped into diapers together mean so little to you?"

"As if you could remember," Lauren snorted, licking chocolate glaze off her fingers.

Fred watched her with rapt attention, then said without blinking, "I remember more than you might think."

"Not when you were busy eating bogeys," Lauren said, taking her wand and cleaning her fingers with a quick spell. 

"I was not eating bogeys!"

"Absolutely," Lauren giggled, "bogeys, mud, sand, grass, absolutely nothing was ever safe from that mouth of yours."

"Are you maybe confusing me with George? I'm sure he did eat all of that and more."

"Eat what?"

George had suddenly appeared behind Fred, looking quite intrigued at the conversation that was happening, Lauren hadn't even realised he had entered, but when she saw him, her face lit up. 

"Georgie!"

"Wow," Fred huffed, pretending to look hurt, "she never looks that happy when I come to see her, all I get is 'What are you doing here, you giant slug?'"

"Well, that's because she likes me better," George said, haughtily, pretending to flip his hair over his shoulder. 

"Bullshit," Fred grinned, trying to elbow him in the ribs but not managing, because he was still sitting next to Lauren's sickbed. "Why are you in here and not outside keeping a lookout?"

"Ah," George said, as if he just remembered why he came in here in the first place. "Snape's doing his rounds and experience says he'll be sweeping through this corridor soon, like the overgrown bat he is."

"Then what are you still doing here, scram," Lauren said, really not wanting the twins to get caught out of their dormitories after midnight.

Fred agreed, getting up. "Yeah, I really don't fancy scrubbing dirty cauldrons in the dungeons for two weeks."

"Or worse," George shuddered, certainly having flashbacks to one of the countless detention-sessions he had suffered under with Fred during their long career as pranksters and constant thorns in Snape's side.

Fred removed the silencing charm around them, wholeheartedly agreeing with his brother.

"Will Madam Pomfrey let you go tomorrow?" he asked in a whisper now, George already halfway across the hospital wing.

"I don't know," Lauren whispered back, trying to push him away, making him move, "now go, I don't want you guys to get caught by the old bat."

Fred grinned at her. "Night, Sherwin."

Lauren rolled her eyes, but this time, it was hard to keep the fond smile off her lips. "Goodnight, Weasley, now go, shoo, shoo!"

Finally, Fred turned around to follow George out the door, but before he actually stepped through it, he looked over his shoulder once more and winked. Again, Lauren motioned him to move, silently laughing.

The door clicked shut almost without a sound and Lauren was, once again, alone in the hospital wing. Only now, it seemed colder and a lot less bright.

She didn't want to ponder on these thoughts, didn't even feel like going back to her book. Instead, Lauren pulled the blanket up to her nose and decided sleep would actually be the best option. 

Yes. 

Definitely. 

She needed rest. 

Lots and lots of rest.

And no thoughts about Fred Weasley. None at all.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Fred didn't visit her again and neither did George, for that matter. Which was okay, really. Of course, Lauren would've loved to have more éclairs, a treat not always available at the dinner table, but it was definitely okay. 

Absolutely okay.

Truly okay.

Yes.

"So," Jessica said when they were on their way back from the hospital wing and to the Ravenclaw tower, Lauren finally released. "You want to tell us something? Anything?"

Madam Pomfrey had been very pleased with Lauren's progress, keeping her in bed for the day, but telling her she was free to go in the late afternoon. Of course, Emily and Jessica had picked her up to escort her back, the three of them walking arm in arm through the almost deserted corridors.

"What would I want to tell you?" Lauren asked, honestly confused.

"That Weasley has been paying you secret midnight visits," Jessica said with a suggestive smile, obnoxiously wiggling her eyebrows.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "That was one time. Also, why does it sound vaguely dirty when you say that?"

"Because she wants it to be dirty, you know her," Emily said, matter of factly. 

Jessica clicked her tongue. "I just find it incredibly weird that, all of a sudden, he goes to see you alone, when in literally every other scenario, the twins are a package deal."

"So, you finally dropped your theory that he did it because he was guilty and now say he did it because he suddenly started fancying Lauren?"

"Precisely," Jessica grinned, looking pleased with Emily's deduction.

"Oh come on," Lauren groaned, trying to ignore how her stomach suddenly started tingling most pleasantly. "He doesn't fancy me. We're friends."

Jessica snorted. "As if that ever stopped anyone."

"Listen, I-"

It was as if Lauren had stepped through a curtain.

Emily and Jessica were gone, Lauren was alone, the world around her blurry and muffled, as if her senses had suddenly dulled. Looking at her hands, though, she could clearly see them, saw her robes, her uniform, her shoes. She was in focus, but nothing else.

There were sounds. She could hear them, like faint explosions in the distance, rumbling. Screams, somewhere on her left, but when she turned around, more blurs.

"What the…"

Her own voice sounded echoey, as if she was still standing in the school's corridors.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to walk.

Walk and then run.

She didn't know what was happening, her heart began to pound in her chest, almost painfully, fear washing over her like a wave breaking violently against the shore. 

It felt urgent.

She  _ had  _ to run. 

If she didn't, something terrible would happen. Something that would turn the world on its axis.

So Lauren ran.

Further and further, through the blurry world surrounding her. 

She could see the outline of people passing, flashing lights everywhere, more explosions.

And the screams.

Lauren only felt more of that bone chilling fear, the one that urged her to run faster, her lungs stinging in her ribcage.

She took a turn, almost sliding into the next corridor, when another explosion ripped through the corridor, this time much closer, much more violent, she could feel the ground beneath her feet shaking with tremors.

Then the world was still. Terribly still.

A scream was piercing the deafening silence, pain so much pain, in her chest, in her whole body. Lauren was crying, suddenly shaking with sobs and only then she realised that she was the one screaming.

"Lauren, come on, talk to me, what the fuck?"

"Shit, shit, shit, what's wrong with her, Emily, do something!"

"I don't know what's wrong with her for fuck's sake, I don't know!"

"Lauren, come on!"

Someone was shaking her and suddenly the world tilted back into focus.

They were still in the middle of the deserted corridor, Emily and Jessica now in front of her, grabbing her arms, her shoulders, both of them white as ghosts, eyes wide with terror.

Lauren was still breathing hard, a sob breaking out of her chest every now and then, face wet with tears.

"What happened?" she asked, voice hoarse and wobbly.

"I don't know," Emily said, still holding onto Lauren's arm with a vice like grip. Jessica next to her looked as if she would be sick if she opened her mouth now.

"You just… stopped. Your eyes rolled back and you started twitching a little."

Jessica sucked in a sharp breath. "It looked like you were having a seizure."

Emily nodded, swallowed harshly. "But then you suddenly started screaming and crying and just talking nonsense and… Shit, Lauren, that was so scary."

"My dear, would you like me to get someone?"

Both Emily and Jessica had whirled around. An inhabitant of one of the portraits in the corridor, a witch in a very frilly purple dress, sitting amidst a meadow of pink carnations, was looking at them, worried, probably having seen everything that had happened.

Emily looked at her, then at Lauren. "Maybe we should get Madam Pomfrey, or Dumble-" 

"No," Lauren said firmly, shaking her head. "No, please, just take me back to the common room, I don't want to see Madam Pomfrey or Dumbledore or anyone. Just take me back, please."

Something in Lauren's voice told Emily and Jessica to just take it for now. Jessica silently thanked the witch in her portrait for her concern, then she took Lauren's right arm once again, Emily taking position on Lauren's left side.

"Come," she said, still sounding scared and uncertain, but willing to fulfil Lauren's wish. "Let's get you to bed."

All the way back, no one said a word. Lauren's mind was racing, but there was no coherent thought forming in her head. She just felt an echo of this gut wrenching pain in her chest, threatening to tear her apart from the inside.

She didn't know what it had been.

And for now, Lauren absolutely did not care.

All she wanted to do was sleep. Sleep and hope that something like this would never happen again.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've already planned most of the story in detail and also have quite a few scenes already written, some chapters might come faster than others. This is one of those rare cases, because trust me, I don't usually write this fast... :'D


	3. Timing (is everything)

Emily and Jessica were keeping watch over Lauren like breeding dragon mothers would over their eggs. At first, it was rather annoying. Especially, when any one of them violently shook her awake when she only so much as dozed off on one of the sofas in the common room. Which only led to Lauren taking a lot less afternoon naps than she was used to and growing more and more irritable, especially considering they did nothing but study.

Of course she knew her friends were worried. If it had been one of them in the corridors, Lauren would have done the very same thing.

At the same time, though, it only added to the ever present stress of the impending O.W.L examinations. All the fifth years, well, maybe with the exception of Fred and George, were neck deep in revising all their subjects, the Ravenclaw common room already brimming with a lot of nervous energy, notes being exchanged, flashcards being made, people practicing spells or reciting potions recipes with vacant eyes.

"It's only a little more than a month," Lauren said that evening, the three of them sitting in a rather secluded corner of the common room, grouped around a table, books and notes spread around them.

"It is," Emily said, not looking at her, eyes glued to her Transfiguration textbook, drawing patterns into the air with her wand. "Thank you for reminding us, that was a totally necessary remark that didn't remind us of our impending doom at all."

Jessica opposite her absentmindedly stroked the back of her Monster Book of Monsters, looking into the flames of the crackling fire in the fireplace on the other side of the room.

  
"I don't get why the two of you are so tense already," she said, but her wide eyes betrayed her pretense of calm. "Exams are in five weeks, we still have plenty of time to get through everything."

"And still work on assignments and other homework," Emily almost spat, as if the mere thought of teachers still expecting them to do their work next to revising triggered the most intense sense of betrayal in her.

"Good thing Quidditch season is over tomorrow, you two won't be burdened with practice anymore."

Lauren huffed out a bitter laugh. 

"Please," she said, closing her potions book with a loud thud, "I'd rather practice for a week without eating or sleeping than going through O.W.L.s…"

Emily hummed in agreement. "Second that. Especially if that meant actually winning the cup for once..."

"Speaking of Quidditch," Jessica said, putting her book back into her bag, where it started growling again. "Who'd you reckon will win tomorrow?"

Lauren and Emily looked at her.

"What?"

"The match, tomorrow. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor. Don't tell me you've already forgotten," Jessica chuckled, leaning back in her chair, arms crossed, a slightly manic look in her eyes. "It's basically impossible to ignore, with people hexing each other in the corridors."

Emily gave her a long searching look.

"You must be seriously stressed when you offer to talk about Quidditch with us out of your own free will," she finally said, the corners of her mouth twitching.

Jessica flipped her off. "Shut up, I'm just trying to make conversation."

"I think," Lauren said loudly, knowing full well that these two could have a full on row if not properly distracted, especially when put under intense pressure. "I think it'll be a close call, but Gryffindor will win."

"How come?" asked Emily, still glaring at Jessica, who only stuck out her tongue.

"Slytherin has the better equipment, over all and their chasers are mad good, but Gryffindor has better teamplay. Plus they have Potter, who's a downright menace, and Fred and George, they basically  _ are  _ bludgers." Lauren shrugged, put the hood of her jumper over her head and pulled the strings tight. "Plus Wood is merciless with his training, he's been drilling the team for weeks now."

"Don't forget Slytherin rather playing dirty than with any relevant tactics," Emily added, having more than enough experience with the Slytherin type of playstyle.

"If you say so," Jessica singsonged, obviously not caring in the slightest. "As long as Gryffindor grinds Slytherin into the dust, I really don't care. I only need Emily's broken wrist avenged."

Emily snorted, remembering all too well how Marcus Flint had snapped her bones when he had crashed into her. Absolutely by accident, of course. "Well, at least that's something we can all agree on."

Just then, Lauren had an idea. 

"I'm done for today," she said, packing up her stuff and getting up.

"Are you going somewhere?" Emily asked, looking at her with a raised brow when Lauren turned and headed for the door out the common room.

"Yeah," she said, digging her hand into the pockets of her jumper. "I'm going to organise myself a Gryffindor muffler from the twins, need to show my support tomorrow properly."

"Huh," Emily hummed, "that's actually a good idea. Get me one, too."

Lauren sent her finger guns. "Gotcha."

Jessica only rolled her eyes and picked up her book about dragon breeds in Southeast Asia.

"You two are so fucking obsessed with this stupid game."

Lauren didn't hear them bicker, because Emily definitely had something to say to  _ that _ , just slipped her feet into her worn trainers, her wand into the pockets of her jumper, just in case, and headed out.

The castle was wonderfully empty. It was already dark outside and when Lauren checked her watch, she realised that it was already rather close to curfew.

Oh well.

She would only have to be extra careful not to get caught on the way back by patrolling teachers or prefects.

Down the stairs, up some stairs, here a corridor, there a corridor, up more stairs. It was a small workout, that's for sure, but Lauren really didn't mind. Her body had been craving some exercise, especially since everything she did nowadays was sit and study. No Quidditch practice to keep her active as well, only the occasional stroll through the castle or getting from one classroom to another.

It was nothing short of a miracle that Lauren didn't meet that many people, only some stragglers from the library, other people taking late walks and, of course, couples snogging and giggling in alcoves, behind heavy curtains and in empty classrooms.

She was close to the Gryffindor tower, when she heard a particularly loud giggle, a girl, obviously someone not caring to get caught, and usually, Lauren would pay that no mind. Unfortunately, she had seen much worse than people snogging in a dark corner, nothing could faze her all that much.

Pulling the hood of her jumper down just a little more and quickening her steps, Lauren planned on passing the couple without having to look at them, sparing them the embarrassment of getting seen. She was polite like that.

Just then, the girl giggled again, a soft "Fred," tumbling from her lips and Lauren stopped dead in her tracks, rooted to the spot as if hit by a full-body bind.

She couldn't stop herself, she had to look, her head turning on its own accord and of course, she saw the couple in the alcove, dimly lit by the moon outside. And yeah, it really was Fred. Even in the semi darkness she could tell it's him. She didn't know the girl, though, only saw long blond curls and the yellow and black trimmings of her uniform. A Hufflepuff, of course Lauren didn't know her.

Just in that moment, Fred turned his head, looked directly at her, realisation dawning on his features. He didn't say anything, the girl clearly not noticing anything amiss with how she had a go on his neck and Lauren had to force herself to tear her eyes away.

She bolted.

Along the corridor and up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower. Her heart was hammering in her chest, so loudly Lauren could almost hear it.

Her head was completely empty.

Or full.

Lauren didn't know, she was unable to form a single coherent thought and she was rather confused about what was happening to her insides, too. Felt like her heart would drop out of her ass any second.

When Lauren reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she was panting from her sprint and… she was angry?

Why was she angry?

This ugly feeling bubbling in her chest when she thought back to Fred and the Hufflepuff girl, peacefully snogging by the window, his hand clearly up her skirt, her mouth glued to his neck.

Why did that make her so angry?

"Password?"

Lauren jumped when the Fat Lady spoke, ripping her out of her thoughts. Or lack thereof, Lauren still wasn't sure what this jumbled mess in her brain actually was.

"I don't know the password," she spat, her bad mood getting the best of her. The Fat Lady looked at her, one eyebrow primly raised, like every time someone was insolent. "And I don't want to get in, I just need to speak to someone."

"Well," the woman in the portrait answered, obviously put off by Lauren's less than friendly demeanour. "I guess you'll have to wait for someone to ask and get them for you, then."

"Fine," Lauren grit through her teeth and sat down on the cold stone floor right next to the portrait, crossing both her legs and her arms.

She didn't even care that she looked like a toddler about to throw a temper tantrum, which wasn't even that far off the truth. She wanted to scream and didn't understand why, only, that white hot anger surged through her entire being when she thought about that tinkling laugh and glossy blonde curls.

"Sherwin?"

Lauren hadn't even heard people arriving, she had been so deep in her thoughts that she scrambled to stand up when she found Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet standing in front of her, looking at her, half amused, half questioning.

"What are you doing here?"

Lauren cleared her throat, a little embarrassed. "Can you get George for me?"

Angelina chuckled, clearly amused by Lauren's flustered existence. "Sure."

Lauren covered her ears when Angelina gave the Fat Lady the password and watched the two girls disappear into their common room. It didn't take long when the portrait swung open again, the Fat Lady looking annoyed, and George stumbled out, seeming surprised.

"Lauren," he beamed, "what an honor to be graced with your splendid company tonight!"

At that, she actually had to huff out a laugh. She felt less than splendid, in her ratty Ballycastle Bats jumper, the worn black leggings, thick socks, old trainers and especially sour mood.

"I need your Gryffindor muffler," Lauren said, crossing her arms in front of her chest, suddenly feeling quite self conscious.

"My muffler?" George asked, looking rather surprised. And a little smug. "I didn't know this is how you felt about me all this time."

Lauren laughed, an honest one, then slapped his shoulder.

"No, you dungbomb, I need it for the game tomorrow."

Realisation lit up George's features. "Aha! You want to show support for the clearly superior team!"

Lauren smirked. "Sure, put it that way."

"If that is so," George beamed and turned to climb back through the portrait hole, that was still open, "leave it to me, fair maiden!"

Again, she laughed. "Just get the damn muffler. And bring Fred's too, Emily needs one as well."

He threw her a small salute and a wink, then climbed back in, the Fat Lady shutting the hole only moments later.

Lauren was left in silence and with George gone, she suddenly remembered that she had been seething just moments before. She almost rolled her eyes at her own antics.

"Don't be ridiculous, come on," Lauren mumbled to herself, waiting for George with her hands buried in the pockets of her jumper yet again.

It didn't take long for George to return, the Fat Lady clearly unhappy ("Now, that's  _ enough _ !") with having to swing back and forth all the time, but with a grin, George tossed Lauren the mufflers, neatly rolled into two small packages.

"Treat them carefully, they're really precious," he said with a grin and Lauren couldn't help but return it.

"Will do," she promised. Just then, George looks at something behind her, eyebrows raised, an amused smile on his lips. Of course, Lauren had to turn around to see what had George looking so smug, but when she saw Fred walking up the stairs, hair tousled, tie crooked, she felt her face fall.

Fred raised his hand in greeting, opened his mouth to say something ("Hi!", "Good evening!", "Hey Lauren, nice to see you!", "I snog girls in dark corners without being ashamed!"), but Lauren had one look at the very obvious hickey on his neck, that she decided she didn't want to hear it, whatever it might have been.

"Good night, Georgie," she said instead, face schooled into a neutral expression, turning back to face him and George looked at her, eyes wide with confusion. "Thank you for the mufflers and good luck for tomorrow. Ram the snakes into the ground for us, too, will you?"

And without another word, or another glance at Fred, she stormed off, clutching the rolled up mufflers to her chest.

Lauren had always prided herself with being more of a rational kind of person, being able to clearly separate her head from her heart, make decisions based on facts rather than emotions. Early on, she had developed the skill to look at a situation objectively, assess it from all sides, collect all the important information and then make a decision, based on everything she had collected.

The fact that she was still fuming when she climbed up the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower told her quite a lot about this situation and her feelings, something glaringly obvious to the rational side in her.

First, she hadn't liked seeing Fred snogging this girl. This was a given.

Second, seeing it, had turned her stomach into a raging pit of angry fire. A crass overreaction to seeing two people kiss.

Third, there clearly was a difference in how she regarded Fred pre and post the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor match, how much she wanted to deny it, the evidence was quite suffocating.

But even with all of this knowledge, Lauren refused to draw a conclusion. She refused to admit what it was, that weird feeling inside of her, glaringly obvious and very easy to label.

She refused.

In hindsight, it would have made things a lot easier. But Lauren was a teenager, still, prone to brash and very irrational decisions that tended to make her life harder rather than easier.

When she entered the common room again, all she did was toss Emily one of the mufflers, grab her remaining school books and immediately headed to their dormitory. She felt her friends' eyes on her back when she left without another word, but Lauren was not in the mood to talk.

Patricia Simpson was getting ready for bed when Lauren arrived, so Lauren didn't bother to wash her face or brush her teeth, all she wanted to do was sleep. With a groan, she realised she had tossed Emily George's muffler, finding a small  _ F  _ stitched into one of the corners of the one she was holding.

Awesome.

And no, she was not being dramatic. (Clearly she was, but Lauren was too upset to care.)

She threw the muffler onto her nightstand, left it sitting there, sticking out like a sore thumb with its red among the blues of the dormitory. Lauren didn't bother to change into her pyjamas, suddenly tired beyond measure, so instead, she slipped into her bed, drew the curtains shut and buried herself under the soft blankets.

Tomorrow would be better, she thought, before drifting off to sleep.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

The thing about Lauren was, she had always been really got at rationalising things away or just plain compartmentalise and stuff them into a very dark corner of her mind, buried to never see the light of day again. 

She had done things like that in the past, the latest example being the year before, when the Heir of Slytherin had set a giant beast loose in the castle, threatening to kill muggleborns. Or, well, petrify them. Luckily, no one had died or got injured too seriously. Back then, she had put her fear for Jessica, who not only was one of her best friends but also a muggleborn, into a neat little box, too, and put it away to never be dealt with.

If she hadn't done that, Lauren would have been downright terrified to the point of not being able to function. The thought of losing one of her friends had made it almost impossible for her to sleep properly or go about her day.

So instead, she forced both Jessica and Emily to constantly walk behind her in the corridors and let her check the corners before they'd round them. Jessica for very obvious reasons and Emily, because she was a half-blood and it hadn't been clear if the monster of the Chamber of Secrets had been this picky with its victims.

Alas, after the year had ended, all the petrified victims had been cured and Harry Potter had saved the day and slayed the giant Basilisk in the Chamber himself. And Lauren had gotten through the school year with both her friends alive and her sanity intact, thank you very much.

Back to the present, Lauren was both rationalising  _ and _ compartmentalising. When she woke up the next morning, thankfully a Saturday, she lay in bed for a while, staring at the constellations painted on the ceiling, pondering what had happened last night.

Of course, now that Lauren had a good night's sleep and the necessary emotional distance to the situation, (at least she told herself that) Lauren realised she had overreacted quite spectacularly. Nothing she had seen would have warranted a reaction like hers. Lauren blamed the lasting strain the impending O.W.L.s put on her nerves. She had spent the past few weeks at the library or the common room, crammed around a table with Emily and Jessica. They hadn't gone home for the Easter Holidays, instead opted to stay in school and study.

It was completely normal to lose one's nerve after such a mentally straining time, at least that's what Lauren told herself. And seeing Fred in such a compromising situation had simply been… weird. Awkward. She has known him for as long as she could think, ever since they were little kids. So it was totally natural to freak out a little.

Right?

Right.

And coming to that very sound conclusion, Lauren then put all of that and more into another neat little box and stowed it away with all the others. Thinking about this wouldn't amount to anything and would only lead to her feeling some form of awful again.

Resolutely, she sat up, pulled the heavy blue velvet curtains surrounding her bed aside and actually felt ready to face the day.

Apparently, Emily and Jessica had been waiting for her to wake up, they were both sitting on Jessica's bed, which was next to Lauren's in the circular room, fully dressed, looking at her. Almost a little apprehensive.

"Good morning," Emily said and it sounded more like a question, as if she wasn't completely sure if she should even talk to Lauren.

Jessica looked at Emily, then at Lauren, then asked her with caution in her voice: "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"

It didn't surprise Lauren, her friends asking after her stormy exit to the dormitories last night. And she thought about it for a moment, what exactly she was going to tell them without making a big deal out of this. Because that's what it wasn't. A big deal.

She finally decided for a sort of half truth. 

"It was nothing," Lauren said, waving her hand as if shooing away an annoying fly. "Fred was pushing my buttons a little more than usual and I think all the studying finally made something in my brain snap."

Emily snorted. "Yeah, sounds like Weasley to do something stupid like that. Was probably already pumped for the game today."

"Hm," Jessica just grunted, looked at Lauren as if she didn't quite believe it. But she didn't prod, knowing full well that that would only lead Lauren to clam up.

Instead, she hopped off the bed, looking rather motivated and energised for a game day.

"Come on, chop chop, get dressed," she said, pulling Lauren off her bed, "I'm starving and need some coffee."

They made their way down to the Great Hall a little later, the four tables already packed with students and everyone buzzing with excitement. People were carrying elaborate banners, flags in red or green, the tension almost palpable. 

It made Lauren feel just a little melancholic. It could've been them getting ready for the last game of the season, nauseous with nerves, pumped with adrenaline.

But it wasn't. Today they'd only be spectators.

They found some free spots amidst the other chatting students, Lauren and Jessica sat down facing the Gryffindor table, Emily opposite them. 

"This is so exciting, I almost feel like we're playing!"

Lauren almost dropped the spoonful of porridge she was about to scoop into her bowl when Cho Chang plopped down next to her, beaming as if she were to rival the sun, a very elaborate lion in red and gold painted onto her left cheek. 

Emily chuckled. "Unfortunately, we're not."

"It's a shame, really," Roger Davies said, sitting down next to Emily and grabbing several slices of toast. "The weather is basically perfect, crisp and clear, no wind. Sun's a little bright maybe, but otherwise?"

"Gryffindor needs to win by at least two hundred points, though, that's quite the feat," Lauren said, now packing some jam onto a scone.

Cho huffed a snorty laugh through her nose, mouth full of bacon.

"Please," she said confidently, "Malfoy is obsessed with riling Harry up, he won't see the snitch even if it were right next to his head."

"Happened in the past," Emily agreed. 

"I feel like this game will be really dirty," Lauren said, the others nodding in agreement, "Slytherin really wants to win, they know that technically Gryffindor has the better team."

"Well, that happens when you let people buy themselves in," Emily grunted, rolling her eyes. "You sacrifice possible talent in favor for what? A nice broom that doesn't do you any good when you don't know how to use it."

Jessica snorted into her coffee. "Hear, hear."

Suddenly, they heard loud cheering from the Gryffindor table, everyone looking up to see the team, already clad in scarlet, rise from their seats to leave for the pitch.

Cho next to Lauren all but jumped out of her seat, waving like a lunatic. 

"Good luck, Harry!"

Lauren saw the boy's head snap around, eyes falling on Cho and he gave her an embarrassed sort of dopey grin. 

"Good luck, Harry?" Jessica teased, smirking at Cho across the table. "You flirting with the boy wonder now, Chang? Already on a first name basis?" 

Cho had the decency to blush when she chucked a piece of toast in Jessica's face. "Shut up."

Lauren watched the Gryffindor team gather themselves, ready to leave under the watchful and quite boisterous eyes of their housemates. Her gaze fell onto the twins, both laughing and joking, already quite obviously in pre-game mode. George saw her, waved excitedly.

"Nice muffler, Sherwin," he shouted, grinning like a lunatic, "how brave of you to finally show your true colours!"

Lauren flipped him off, but grinned as well. Then her eyes fell on Fred next to George, smiling, but a little uncertain when Lauren looked at him.

Lauren knew she had a choice. She could behave like a child and still give him the cold shoulder for something that wasn't his fault at all, or she could woman up and behave like a normal human being.

Deciding to do the latter, she gave Fred a big thumbs up and a wide grin. That seemed to do the trick, his face lighting up immediately, now mirroring his twin's expression.

There, that was better.

It also significantly lightened Lauren's mood and when they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch, she almost had that familiar pre-game adrenaline running through her system.

They met the rest of the Ravenclaw team when settling down in the bleachers, Lauren's younger brother Michael with his friends right in front of them, decked out with face paint and banners in Gryffindor-red in a once-in-a-lifetime bout of solidarity with the lions.

"I hope they slaughter Slytherin," he said to his sister, expression rather grim. He still hadn't forgiven Marcus Flint for almost breaking his broom when body checking him into the goal post the last time they played Slytherin. "I'm here to see blood."

Lauren just laughed, ruffled his hair, which the boy didn't appreciate.

Just a few moments later, the teams stepped onto the pitch under thunderous applause and roaring cheers, Lee Jordan, commentating as usual, announcing each player by name.

"Wood looks like he's about to hurl," Cho on Lauren's right shouted over the noise. And true, Gryffindor's captain was dangerously pale, lips set into a tight line when he stepped up to the middle to shake hands with Slytherin's Markus Flint.

"I really wouldn't want to be in his shoes, to be honest," Roger, standing behind Lauren, agreed. "It's his very last chance to get the cup, he's graduating this year."

Lauren didn't have time to answer, Madam Hooch's whistle sounding across the roar of the crowd and the teams kicking off.

Lauren's prediction should remain correct, the game was incredibly dirty, Slytherin truly not holding back, Flint using his team's brawn rather than their brains.

"Oof, that was hefty," Emily flinched when Flint crashed into Angelina Johnson after she scored the first goal.

"He didn't see her, my arse," Lauren shouted over the resounding boos accompanying the foul, "are you fucking blind, Flint?"

When Fred chucked his bat at the back of Flint's head with deadly precision, smashing his face into the handle of his broom and coming back up with a bloody nose, Madam Hooch was already raging with fury.

"He deserved that, the wanker deserved that," Michael in front of Lauren shouted, shaking his fist at Flint and Lauren had to suppress a grin, their mother surely not approving of his choice of words, as true as they might have been.

Penalties were taken, Alicia Spinnet scored and Wood saved, Gryffindor was in the lead with twenty points.

It was nasty. Next, Montague grabbed Katie Bell's head instead of the Quaffle, almost making her fall off her broom, then the two beaters sent Bludgers into Potter's direction.

"They are not even trying," Emily screamed, when Bole, a Slytherin beater, whacked Alicia with his club. 

"They are just giving away penalties, Gryffindor is so far in the lead already it's ridiculous," Lauren snorted when George whacked Bole's face with his elbow.

"There's more goals through penalties than through nicely executed moves…"

Just then Bole and Derrick knocked two Bludgers at Wood, the Quaffle nowhere near the Gryffindor goal posts. Madam Hooch was having a downright fit now, the crowd booing as well, Lee Jordan cursing profoundly, his voice loud over the noise around the pitch.

"Oh shit, Harry, Harry has seen the Snitch," Cho next to Lauren yelled, grabbing her arm and excitedly jumping up and down.

If Potter got the Snitch now, Gryffindor would win, they were in the lead with enough points to overtake Slytherin.

But he didn't get far, Malfoy hot on his heels.

"He fucking did not," Emily sreeched when Malfoy leaned forward and grabbed the tailend of Potter's Firebolt, preventing him from going after the Snitch, losing sight of it in the resulting commotion.

Madam Hooch was beyond furious, screaming, shouting, her whistle piercingly loud. The crowd was fierce, calling Malfoy names, the booing almost deafening. Lauren could see Fred and George twirling their bats and she really hoped they wouldn't just club him onto the ground.

Alicia missed the penalty, too angry to properly aim and for a moment, the game actually continued without another hitch, Gryffindor now with a comfortable lead.

"Come on, Potter, the Snitch, where is it," Emily yelled, clawing at Lauren's arm, "end it now, we need this shitshow to be over."

And, as if on cue, the noise of the crowd was swelling to a nearly unbearable volume, Draco Malfoy suddenly plummeting into the depths, body as flat on his broom as possible. Everyone was going positively mental, Cho next to Lauren screaming, "Come on, Harry, don't let him get it!", everyone on their toes, when Potter zooms through the air, hot on Malfoy's heels, getting every little drop of speed out of his Firebolt, the two seekers now going head to head.

If Lauren had thought the roar of the crowd was deafening, she really wasn't prepared for the rise in volume when Potter pulled out of his dive before crashing into the grass, right arm raised, the golden Snitch struggling weakly against his iron grip.

The stadium exploded.

The Gryffindor team, now a heap on the floor of brooms and limbs, Potter buried on the bottom, while their housemates and half of the school scrambled over the bleachers, joining the happy heap on the ground.

"Look, McGonagall's crying," Emily laughed, pointing at the usually so composed teacher, freely sobbing into one of the large Gryffindor banners. 

Celebrating loudly, the crowd gathered the Gryffindor team on top of a dozen arms and shoulders, carrying them to the podium where Dumbledore was already waiting for them with the gleaming silver Quidditch cup.

Of course, Lauren was glad for the Gryffindors, better them winning than Slytherin, but still. She couldn't suppress this feeling of loss, in front of her inner eye a scene similar to this, but instead of crimson, the crowd was covered in royal blue.

She felt Emily's hand on her shoulder, her friend looking at her with the same wistful expression Lauren must have had herself.

"Next year," Emily said, smiling.

"Yeah, next year," Cho agreed, resting her head on Lauren's shoulder while watching the Gryffindors celebrate.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

The Gryffindors celebrated until very late that night, undisturbed by reprimanding teachers. And of course, the common room was also open for friends from other houses, just this once, as per tradition.

The common room was packed, seemingly half the school up and partying. The twins and Lee had organised a plethora of finger foods and beverages from the kitchens, someone had hooked up a wireless and loud music was playing.

The Ravenclaw Quidditch team was there in its entirety, Lauren having a watchful eye on her brother Michael, who would surely not heed their mother's wish to always be in bed by ten. Not tonight. He was hanging around Ginny Weasley and her Gryffindor friends and who was Lauren to keep her brother from socialising, when she herself had already drunk two Firewhiskeys? Would be more than hypocritical, wouldn't it?

"Next year," Emily yelled over the sound of the music and the plethora of voices around them, "next year, this will happen at  _ our  _ common room."

"Hear, hear," Jessica said, raised her butterbeer, careful not having it slosh over. "I don't give two shits about Quidditch, but I can absolutely appreciate a good party."

Lauren giggled, feeling very warm and happy, the three of them squished on one of the small couches with Cho, eating and drinking their little hearts out.

"We'll show them," Cho said defiantly, trying to wipe some cream off her cheek, "we're amazing, we're great, we will definitely win next year. We'll crush them all and make up for failing to achieve anything in the past few years."

She hiccoughed.

"And that's enough Butterbeer for you, young lady," Jessica said, taking the half empty bottle out of Cho's slightly sticky hands, the latter pouting.

"Alright,  _ mum _ …"

They sat and chatted for a while, just enjoying the buzz, watching the people around them more than actually joining the fray. Lauren liked that more, she always needed quite some time to warm up with the crowd before she felt safe enough to leave their little bubble. Jessica had always been more of a social butterfly and Emily was even more introverted than Lauren, but they always stuck together until everyone was comfortable.

When Lauren saw the twins pop up after a while, she got up.

"I'll go and return the mufflers, give me a second," she said, taking the borrowed garment from Emily, who shot Jessica a suggestive glance, obnoxious eyebrow wiggle and everything.

Lauren ignored them, especially, when Cho got into another violent fit of giggles and almost fell off the sofa, not realising how Potter looked at her with a rather fond face. Lauren grinned.

With a little maneuvering, Lauren made her way through the crowd, people had actually started dancing in the middle of the room and she had her toes stepped on more than she would've liked.

The fact that she wasn't all too stable on her feet anymore could've played a significant part in that as well, but who's counting?

Just when she thought she'd made it, someone bumps into Lauren, spilling Butterbeer all over her jumper. She almost tripped, too, but a large hand grabbed her by the arm and steadied her.

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry!"

Lauren wanted to say it's alright, no harm done, but the person had already brandished their wand, casting a few  _ Scourgify  _ until her jumper was both clean and dry again.

After checking that the mufflers were free from stains, too, Lauren finally looked up.

"I really should've watched where I was going," a rather embarrassed Cedric Diggory said, pocketing his wand again. 

"Don't worry about it," Lauren said, "nothing a good old Scouring Charm can't fix."

Cedric grinned. "Yeah, I guess so. Lauren Sherwin, right?"

"That's me," Lauren said, returning his grin and added some finger guns for good measure, trying to mask the surprise that he actually knew her name. Well, they did have some classes together, played Quidditch against each other, but Lauren had always considered herself to not be important enough in the overall hierarchy of popular people to be recognised.

Especially not by Cedric Diggory, who was probably the most popular male student in school, blessed with good looks and a nice personality to match.

"Really motivates you to do better next year, huh?" he said, snapping Lauren out of her musings. He vaguely gesticulated around the room, but Lauren absolutely got what he meant. 

"Oh, definitely," she grinned, Quidditch always a safe topic for her to pick up, even with almost strangers she wouldn't know what to talk about otherwise. "I think Roger has already started revising tactics and setting up a training regimen."

Cedric laughed at that, eyes crinkling. "Looks like you already have a head start, then."

Someone called his name from across the room and he looked at her, rather apologetically. 

"Sorry, duty calls… Nice talking to you, Sherwin!"

And gone he was.

Lauren stood there for a moment, a little frazzled and not exactly knowing why, but then she remembered where she was headed and continued her journey through the mob.

Again, Lauren almost lost her footing when the twins spotted her and basically bowled into her with a lot more noise than strictly necessary, George picking Lauren up and throwing her over his shoulder, spinning in a circle that made her even more dizzy.

"Merlin's beard, do you want me to hurl?" Lauren laughed when she had solid ground underneath her feet again.

"It's a night of celebration Lauren," George said, his own cheeks already sufficiently pink, "I'd be offended if you don't hurl."

She weakly slapped his arm, "I have absolutely no intention to do that, it's disgusting and unpleasant."

"So, you came to congratulate us on our superior victory?" Fred then asked, looking very smug.

"That and to return these bad boys," Lauren nodded, holding up the mufflers, again neatly rolled up.

"Ah, the good luck charms," George grinned when Lauren handed them to him, "looks like you'll have to wear them for us every game from now on."

"As if," Lauren said with a raised brow, "don't forget, this was an exception, I don't actually want you guys to win at all next season."

"Oh? Ravenclaw laying claim on the cup? You actually think that's a realistic goal?"

Lauren knew he was only teasing, but she recognised a challenge when she heard one and the way the twins were looking at her, identical grins and that belligerent glint in their eyes, they definitely meant business.

"You better watch out, Weasley," she said, now grinning herself, "that pretty little trophy will look absolutely splendid when paired with our blue robes."

Fred winked at her. "You just tell yourself that, love."

This was good, Lauren thought, this was good and normal, this banter between them. Especially, when Fred put her in a headlock and gave her the worst noogie in the history of noogies, completely messing up her ponytail and making her squeal in the most embarrassing pitch.

Yeah, this was good, everything was okay.

No grudges, no weird butterflies. Just… this.

Yes. Everything was okay.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will conclude year 5 and we'll plunge headfirst into the Goblet of Fire-arc. And yes, from there, I'll be deviating quite a bit from the original canon-timeline, but to what extent? We'll see. Thank you, to everyone who has been reading so far! I see you. ;)


	4. Expect the unexpected

"No, no please, Madam Pince, I have to revise another chapter, I can't stop now, I'll fall behind in my schedule, please, just another half hour!"

Madam Pince looked at Lauren as if she were a stray piece of half molten chocolate between two pages of an especially precious book, one eyebrow raised so high it almost disappeared beneath her hairline, lips pursed primly.

Lauren felt small and inadequate under her gaze.

"You know the library closes at 8:00 pm, and there are no exceptions to be made," Madam Pince said, unyielding, blocking the door to the library. Lauren stood in the corridor, her things haphazardly clutched to her chest.

"There are rules every student has to abide by. No matter if first, fifth or seventh year."

Lauren knew there was no chance. Madam Pince was ruthless when it came to rules.

"You can return again tomorrow, have a good night."

It didn't sound like she actually wished Lauren a good night, once again regarded her with a sharp look, then turned and shut the door with a resolute bang.

Without exaggerating, Lauren felt like she was about to cry. She had already miscalculated when she had closed her eyes for just a few minutes, earlier in the afternoon, only to be awoken by some giggling first years, two hours later. Because of that, she hadn't managed to finish her revision of Everlasting Elixirs on time and was already behind on the Draught of Peace. 

And she had missed dinner.

So now she was tired, stressed  _ and  _ hungry. The worst kind of all combinations.

For a few moments, Lauren just stood there, the closed door of the library still in front of her, mocking her with its… closedness. But it was no use. Madam Pince's word was final and there was no way for Lauren to get back in. Admitting defeat, she began to stuff her things back into her bag.

With a little too much vigor, or so it seemed, because at one point, the bag ripped at the seams, books, parchments and quills tumbling to the floor. An inkpot shattered, black ink dripping over her Potions book and her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay.

The bag had been old, to its defense. Lauren had had it since her first year. It's been a good bag, a trusty bag. Her mother got it for her when they went to Diagon Alley to get her wand.

It was a nice bag.

A good bag.

And now it was lying on the ground, everything she had in there stained with ink, the black liquid quickly spreading into a small puddle on the stone floor.

Defeated. That's how Lauren felt. The earlier desperation was replaced by numbness.

She looked at the ceiling. "Sirius Black, if you're still in here, now'd be the perfect time to slit my throat with your big sharp knife."

"Don't you think that's a little much?" a very amused voice asked and only then Lauren realised that Cedric Diggory was crouching down next to her. While she was gaping at him in embarrassment, Diggory was already vanishing the spilled ink and shards of the smashed pot, getting ink stains all over his hands when moving the soiled parchment.

"That was, I-" Lauren stopped herself, still half frozen in her squat.

Cedric laughed. "I get it, Sherwin, don't worry, I have to study for O.W.L.s, too."

Realising he was doing all the work for her, Lauren picked up her wand, which had clattered to the ground with the rest of her things. With Cedric's help, she made quick work of the mess, most of her books almost clean again when they were done, her essay saved as well.

"Thank you," Lauren said, parchment and quills now a neat heap in her arms again, while Cedric was stacking her books.

"Don't mention it," he said when they both got up again, still holding onto her books, "you looked like you could use some help."

Lauren snorted out a rather bitter laugh, not able to suppress an eyeroll. "All that could possibly help me now would be O.W.L.s being over."

"Fair enough," Cedric said, grinning again, his dark eyes crinkling at the corners. 

He was pretty. Of course he was, Lauren was neither stupid nor blind. Up until now, she hadn't paid any attention to that, knowing full well that the whole school was fawning over the Hufflepuff prefect for as long as she could remember. Plus, he had never talked to her up until now.

The second time in quite a short amount of time.

Lauren felt like she had to be looking at Cedric with a rather dumb expression on her face, but he was gentleman enough to ignore that. Instead, he hoisted her books comfortably into his arms and inclined his head, motioning her to follow him.

"Until then, let me walk you back to your common room? You might need another pair of hands with all those books."

Lauren only realised he had started walking, when Cedric was already a few paces ahead, not waiting for her to answer.

"Diggory, wait, no, you don't have to do this," she said, falling into a light jog to catch up with him. 

"Your common room is basically on the other side of the castle."

"Don't worry, Sherwin," he grinned, setting a comfortable pace now Lauren was walking next to him. "I'm on patrol in that area tonight, it's not that much of a detour."

Ah, of course, Lauren thought, prefect duties.

"If you insist," she said, holding onto her parchment and quills and broken bag like she would grab a lifeline. With all her heart, she wished Jessica to be here now.

Jessica would know what to do, what to say, could keep a conversation flowing with literally anyone. Emily had once said Jessica would be able to coerce Snape into smalltalk if she really put her mind into it and Lauren believed that was true.

She wasn't that good with people she didn't know. Never has and probably never will be.

"So," Cedric said after a while, the two of them walking side by side in silence. "Have your friends abandoned you, all alone under Madam Pince's watchful eye?"

Lauren snorted again. "Not by choice."

"That sounds ominous."

There was a moment of hesitation before Lauren answered. She didn't quite understand why she felt compelled to tell Cedric anything about herself that wasn't easily observable, but somehow, Lauren was rather comfortable.

Maybe it was his calm and collected aura, maybe it were his, admittedly, very pretty dark eyes.

Lauren had never considered herself part of the Cedric Diggory fanclub, swooning when he walked past. From a completely objective standpoint she could admit that he was attractive, yes, she did have working eyes. And yes, he was definitely a very capable Quidditch player and competent team captain.

But still, he was nothing more than a guy she shared some classes with, basically a stranger. So Lauren surprised herself just a little, when she didn't feel any reluctance answering his question truthfully.

"You have to know," she began, feeling sheepish, "I'm not the best at dealing with pre-exam stress. Never have and probably never will. And with O.W.L.s being the most important thing in our school career so far, I tend to snap at people for simply breathing too loudly."

Which wasn't a complete lie. The year before, when her brother Michael had been a rather innocent first year, he and his friends had come to her when studying for their own exams, bombarding her with questions and Lauren… well. 

Let's say she hadn't been proud of making a group of eleven year olds cry.

Cedric actually had the gall to laugh. 

"You made them cry?"

Lauren sighed, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Not my proudest moment, if I'm being totally honest here. But it's the reason I avoid people before exams start. Mainly to not humiliate myself for losing my cool again or hurt my friends so much they don't want to be my friends anymore."

"That seems pretty wise, if you ask me," Cedric said, still smiling. He did that a lot, Lauren noticed. Not the worst trait to have, if she were completely honest, especially when those smiles were actually genuine.

She shrugged. "It's something I need to work on. I can't go around screaming at people when I'm stressed, that's not a very attractive trait to have."

"My mother always says 'A fault confessed is half redressed', so you're already over the worst," Cedric said sagely. "And considering you haven't hexed me yet, I'd say you're doing pretty well."

"Don't say that just yet, I might Bat Bogey you for touching my books the wrong way."

"You wouldn't actually do that, right?"

Lauren laughed. "I'm very peculiar about my books."

"You know I'm a prefect, I could take points from you or give you detention." It didn't sound like a threat, not with how Cedric was grinning.

"You wouldn't," Lauren said, mirroring Cedric's grin, "you're actually way too nice for that."

"Oh, am I now?" 

"Absolutely, you're carrying my books for me, which you don't have to, you're definitely way too nice."

Cedric just chuckled at that and the conversation shifted to another topic: Quidditch. Lauren was rather grateful for that. Talking to Cedric was surprisingly easy and comfortable, but she still wasn't too keen on talking about herself too much. And Cedric was one of those people who just had this kind of trustworthy aura. The one, that made you spill all your secrets in an instant and without a second thought.

Quidditch was a much safer topic. Nice and superficial.

Or not, considering Lauren had a lot of emotions regarding the sport, especially when it came to the Hogwarts cup. But Cedric took it like a champ, just as invested, naturally, as the Hufflepuff team captain.

Lauren hadn't really noticed time passing or them suddenly standing by the bottom of the stairs to the Ravenclaw tower.

"I think I'll manage the rest of the way on my own," she said, a little embarrassed, since she had spent the past five minutes ranting about the school not providing standardized brooms for the house teams.

Cedric was about to hand her the books, when Lauren raised her wand and with a quick flick and swish everything was levitating before them.

"Why didn't you do that right from the start?" Cedric asked, with a raised brow, but his lips were quivering with a poorly hidden smile.

"Oh no," Lauren said, shaking her head while the objects arranged themselves into a neat pile and finally landed safely in her arms. "I can't keep the spell up for too long with that many things, takes too much of my concentration."

"Fair enough."

"You also looked really keen on carrying my books for me, I didn't want to disappoint you."

At first, Cedric just stared at her in surprise, eyes wide and Lauren cursed herself, worried about getting too comfortable too quickly. But then he chuckled, seeming honestly amused.

  
"Good one, Sherwin," he said, grinning and Lauren congratulated herself for actually managing to say something witty in the right moment and not embarrassing herself in front of the school's most popular boy.

"Have fun on patrol," she said, turning to climb the stairs to the tower. "Leave the snogging couples alone, they just want to spend some quality time together."

Cedric snorted out another laugh, looking a lot less intimidatingly pretty and a lot more human in that moment.

"I'll keep that in mind, have a good night," he said with a grin, turning to leave.

"Diggory," Lauren called after him, remembering that she did indeed have some manners left.

Cedric stopped, looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?" 

"Thank you," Lauren said, inclining her head towards her books, "for helping me. You really didn't have to do that."

Cedric waved her off. "Don't mention it."

When Lauren returned to the common room, she found Jessica and Emily sitting on one of the sofas by the fireplace, each of them a book in hand. But when she entered, they both looked up.

"So," Jessica immediately said, wiggling her eyebrows rather obnoxiously. "Diggory walked you here  _ and  _ he carried your books?"

"How the fuck do you know that?" Lauren asked, unceremoniously dropping her things onto the small table in front of the sofa and squeezed herself between her friends.

Jessica grinned rather smugly. "I have my sources."

"Your sources? What are you, a spymaster?"

"Philomena the Pleasant just told her," Emily said without looking up, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at one of the portraits on the wall behind her. An elderly witch in vivid purple robes was waving at them.

"Of course," Lauren rolled her eyes, but slapped Jessica's thigh fondly with a resounding  _ smack,  _ "you old gossip, you."

But while they bickered on the couch, Lauren realised that she actually didn't mind Jessica's prodding. Not even, when her friend resorted to all sorts of rather dirty innuendos. Because there was nothing to actually uncover. Cedric swept in as her knight in shining armour and did her a service, fulfilling his duty as prefect by simply being a nice person.

That's it.

Jessica, of course, called bullshit.

"There is something cooking," she said, tapping her nose, "I can feel it in my left tit."

Emily whacked her with a throw pillow.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Lauren has lost track of time. And probably her touch with reality as well. She had even crossed the angry-stage of the pre-exams phase, morphed straight into a state of constant anxiety.

It was only a few days until O.W.L. exams would begin. 

Emily has stopped talking, eyes constantly glued to her flashcards or study notes, running on four hours of sleep each night. There was a sort of manic glint in her eyes while she was going through her flashcards at lightning speed, her right eyelid frequently twitching.

Jessica, on the contrary, was completely serene, sitting at the very same table, her favorite book on dragons propped up in front of her, a big mug of chamomile tea in her hands.

"I did all I could," she had said the day before, "if I can't do it now, I won't know it in two days."

Lauren was more in the same headspace as Emily. She was sitting with her friends, trying to perfect her  _ Incendio _ , practicing it on a stack of crumpled papers.

"I think it's a bit of an overkill," Jessica said, watching Lauren burn one piece after the other without setting the whole table on fire.

"What is?" Lauren asked without taking her eyes off her pile.

Jessica shifted in her seat, getting more comfortable. "I don't think you need to be that precise with Incendio, just show them you can set shit on fire."

Lauren didn't say anything to that. It was useless, Jessica wouldn't get it.

"-and I really wouldn't know how to act, I really wouldn't."

Lauren flinched, when a group of fourth years was entering the common room, chattering and laughing. She recognised them as Cho's gaggle of friends, the girl shooting Lauren an apologetic look when they sat down by the fire.

Lauren tried to tune them out. Successfully, for a few minutes, her concentration only broken when she vanished the ashes and added more crumpled parchment to her pile.

"No, but Oliver Wood, he's fit," one of the girls, Marietta Edgecombe, Lauren thought, said, digging in a box of Bertie Bott's Beans.

"He's okay, I guess," another girl said, shrugging, sounding rather bored. "I'd go for Diggory, Diggory is…" She whistled, appreciatively, the other girls giggled.

"You're so basic, Diggory is so obvious."

"He's  _ gorgeous _ !"

"Guys, can you tone it down a little?" Lauren heard Cho say in a muted voice, urging her friends to be quiet for the sake of the other students. But the damage was already done, Lauren's focus had shifted away from her pile of parchment to the gossiping fourth years by the fire.

"Diggory is a no-brainer," Marietta said, voice low, but Lauren could still hear every word in the otherwise quiet common room. 

"Yeah, we don't even need to talk about Diggory, agreed."

"But you know who else has been getting quite fit?"

"Who?"

"Oh god, there she goes again."

Someone threw a chocolate frog, one of them squealed. Lauren felt a vein in her forehead tick.

"Shut up, Jane, let her speak."

There was the sound of a throw pillow being tossed.

  
"She does nothing but speak," Jane said, sounding annoyed, "and if I hear one more thing about the Weasley twins, I'm gonna flip my shit."

Lauren froze.

What?

"I'll never shut up about the Weasley twins," the other girl said, mouth full with something crispy. "I mean, have you seen them lately?"

"We have eyes, Helen."

"But she's right, they really have gotten quite fit," Marietta said, sounding thoughtful. "Also, there are two of them."

"Oh!" Jane, Lauren thought it was Jane, she had that obnoxious kind of voice, squeaked and was immediatly shushed by her giggling friends.

"What?"

"Do you know Elaine?"

"Elaine Harrison from Hufflepuff?"

"Yeah, her," Jane said, sounding excited.

"What's with her?" Marietta asked, intrigued, like Jane was about to spill something spicy.

"She had a thing with one of the twins, not long ago."

Lauren really didn't want to hear anymore, but she couldn't block them out. Especially when that one scene popped back up in front of her inner eye, Fred with a pretty blond girl in one of the alcoves, hand underneath her skirt and all. Jessica was looking at her, one eyebrow raised in suspicion, when Lauren's whole pile was slowly catching fire without her noticing.

"She did not!" Helen said, voice rising above regular conversation noise levels. Out of the corner of her eye Lauren could see Emily flinch, dropping her flashcards.

"She totally did," Jane giggled, "she told me all about it last week."

"Bet it was spicy," Helen said, sounding thoughtful and stuffing another piece of candy into her mouth, "those redheads, man."

"If you want to have a go, go," Jane said, "Elaine said if you find out who Fred is, you'll have a good time, he's not picky."

"Lauren?" Jessica whispered when the fire started spreading to the surrounding parchments, Lauren's Charms study notes. But Lauren didn't even notice, had unknowingly let go of control over her charm a while ago. Her hand still holding her wand was shaking and hot white anger was bubbling in her stomach like acid.

"You know, I might just go and do that," Helen sounded thoughtful, but there was a giddiness in her voice that made Lauren's insides turn. "He can totally go and do whatever he wants with me, I won't ha-"

Something in Lauren snapped. She didn't know what, or why, maybe it was the stress, the pressure (it surely was the stress and the pressure), but she couldn't take it anymore.

"HOW ABOUT YOU GO AND SHUT UP FOR A CHANGE?" she roared, jumping out of her seat, chair clattering to the ground. "STOP TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE THEY ARE WARES TO BUY IN A STORE, THAT'S DISGUSTING, YOU'RE FOURTEEN FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

It was mayhem.

Lauren hadn't realised that, in her rage, her fire had completely gotten out of control and she really had set the table on fire.

Now not only Lauren was shouting, but Emily, too, her flashcards and study notes going up in flames. 

Helen was crying and Cho tried to usher her friends away from the scene, throwing more apologetic looks in Lauren's direction, but Lauren didn't see her, because now she was yelling at Emily, for whatever reason.

Jessica, in the meantime, was extinguishing the fire with some well placed  _ Aguamenti _ , a bastion of calm in the storm raging around her. Everyone in the common room was now looking at them, Emily and Lauren both red faced and panting.

When they were done, standing opposite each other, wands raised, this close to hexing each other, the wet remains of the table between them, a giant black burn in the carpet, Jessica calmly stood up and hit them both with a Cheering Charm.

Lauren immediately felt lighter and obviously, Emily did too. They looked at Jessica like she had grown a second head.

"Do you feel better now?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Emily and Lauren nodded, still not saying anything.

Jessica looked pleased. "Good. Then we're done here. We'll clean up and then we take a walk."

No one argued, both knowing that Jessica had the right idea.

And while they were cleaning up the mess they had caused, Lauren couldn't help but wonder why the girls talking about Fred like he was a piece of meat had made her snap.

Obviously because he was a dear friend and she felt rather protective over him, right?

Yeah.

Right.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Jessica's Cheering Charm had worn off after roughly two hours, but the walk across the castle grounds in rather nice weather did its own kind of magic. When they returned to the castle, Emily was talking again and Lauren didn't feel like she would pop off at the next person looking at her weirdly.

Still, Lauren couldn't forget the gossiping fourth years from the common room. She slept awfully that night, tossing and turning, waking up with her head at the other side of the bed, feet tangled in the royal blue curtains of her four poster bed.

It was a rainy Sunday, the pleasant weather from the day before having made way for storm grey clouds and a steady drizzle. They had one more day before O.W.L.s would start and Lauren had finally reached the final phase of her pre-exam madness: complete calm.

She was sitting at the Ravenclaw table that morning, chin propped up on her hand, her other occupied with making a mess of her porridge. Emily, on the other side of the table, was reviewing flashcards again, this time for ancient runes. She, too, was a lot calmer than the day before, the yelling and almost duel she had with Lauren having released all the tension that had been building during the weeks of non stop studying. Jessica next to her read the Prophet, munching on a serving of bacon and eggs, looking peaceful and rather zen with everything.

Lauren had a good view of the Gryffindor table from where she was sitting. She saw Potter's unruly black mop of hair, Ron sitting next to him, both of them talking over their breakfast. Granger next to them, her nose, of course, in a book, completely zoning out the noise around her. They were all sitting with their backs to Lauren.

Her eyes wandered further, the twins sitting close by on the other side of the Gryffindor table, talking to Lee Jordan. Lauren furrowed her brow, looking first at Fred, then at George.

_ "But you know who else has been getting quite fit?" _

_ "Who?" _

_ "Oh god, there she goes again." _

_ "Shut up, Jane, let her speak." _

_   
_ _ "She does nothing but speak, and if I hear one more thing about the Weasley twins, I'm gonna flip my shit." _

_ "I'll never shut up about the Weasley twins. I mean, have you seen them lately?" _

_ "We have eyes, Helen." _

_ "But she's right, they really have gotten quite fit. Also, there are two of them." _

Lauren's frown deepened as the twins laughed at something Jordan said and her eyes zeroed in on Fred. 

He did have a nice smile, now that she really looked at him. Which she had actually never really done before. Because why would she? Lauren had known Fred for as long as she could remember. Has seen him grow up, face caked in mud, knees bloodied and bruised from falling down so much. With missing teeth and crying over cake on the ground.

And now, Lauren stared at him across the tables, like some weird creep.

She shifted her hand, so that her cheek was now resting on her fist, shoving a spoonful of cold porridge into her mouth. She didn't even notice she was squinting. Emily set her flashcards aside.

"What's wrong?"

Lauren heard her, knew the question was directed at her, but she didn't answer. Jessica and Emily looked at each other, visibly confused.

"Lauren?" Jessica now asked, setting her fork down.

Again, Lauren didn't say anything, just looked. Looked at Fred. Talking to his friend, then leaning forward to throw a piece of bread straight at Ron's head. Laughing. He ran a hand through his hair. It was getting quite long.

Suits him, a voice in the back of her head said. Lauren didn't even question it. Just like she didn't question how his smile suddenly looked rather nice and how she thought his eyes were pretty.

Merlin, she truly was going mad.

"For fuck's sake, Lauren," Emily said, turned around to try and follow Lauren's line of sight. "What is it?"

"Do you think Fred is good looking?"

Both Jessica and Emily certainly didn't fail to notice that she didn't say "and George", a common occurrence when talking about the twins. Or one of them. Because most of the time, they were a package deal. Lauren certainly failed to notice that she only mentioned Fred.

"Why are you asking?" Jessica asked, very carefully, looking at Emily, slightly alarmed. Emily returned the look, eyes round, the rest of her face almost blank. 

But it was as if Lauren didn't hear her. And somehow she really didn't, not really. At least the words didn't compute.

"Just answer the question," Lauren said, her voice neutral, almost monotone. 

Suddenly, Fred was looking at her, as if feeling her gaze. He grinned, sent her a playful wink and turned his attention back to Lee Jordan and his breakfast.

Emily looked at Jessica, but she just shrugged.

"I guess?" Emily said and it sounded more like a question. Lauren let out a huff that could've meant pretty much anything. "They are both pretty good looking."

Jessica agreed. "Not to be that kind of person, but they have really grown into their faces and bodies this year. Nothing like those gangly boys with weird haircuts they've been the first three years."

"That and they are pretty fun. And charming. Lots of girls fancy them, they're pretty popular. I can see why," Emily said, but she still looked at Lauren suspiciously.

"Hm." Lauren still sat there with her cheek propped up on her fist, idly stirring in the remains of her breakfast.

Something had happened. With her, with Fred. 

That much was clear. Lauren couldn't deny her reaction yesterday was only due to her being stressed because of O.W.L.s. She could try and rationalise it away, ignore it in its neat little box. But for how long?

Going by her setting a table on fire in a fit of (jealous?) rage was definitely something she couldn't deny or just explain away with being stressed. Yes, that definitely was part of it, but more a catalyst than the actual reason.

Something was different. 

Ever since he had visited her at the hospital wing.

The answer to her problem was quite obvious, still. Too obvious. But Lauren was not ready to face the consequences of her feelings. Or even admit them to herself completely.

Now, that her head was too preoccupied with the O.W.L. examinations being, quite literally, around the corner, Lauren didn't have the capacity to ponder over her feelings. Or why she couldn't take her eyes off of Fred Weasley.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

"What even is this room? I've never ever seen it before," Emily said and craned her neck to get a better look around the crowd.

Jessica sipped at her drink, a concoction that smelled really sweet, tasted fruity and packed quite the punch.

  
"To be honest, I don't care," she said, head bobbing to the rhythm of the music that came from a rather giant wireless at the other side of the room. "The food is great and all i want to do is get completely sloshed."

"With this, no problem," Lauren said, raising her own glass of the death brew.

But she had to agree, she had never ever been in this room before. It was weirdly well equipped for a party like this, fifth and especially seventh years celebrating the end of O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. Some seventh years had organised this gathering, invitations being passed by word of mouth.

Emily couldn't let it go. "No, seriously, what  _ is  _ this room?"

Suddenly an arm snuck around her shoulder and Emily was about to shove him off, when she realised it was George. 

"A room for a great party, Fawcett, loosen up a little, it's the end of the school year."

"Yeah, we've all been working really hard, time to let our hair down ," Fred said, appearing next to Lauren with his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Oh yes, we've really been working hard," Jessica snorted, giving them both a once over, "can't say the same about the two of you."

"Are you insinuating we didn't work our arses off?" Fred asked, mock hurt in his voice.

"I saw you folding animals out of parchment during our written Potions exam, I wouldn't really call that working your arse off," Lauren said, taking another sip of her drink. "Snape looked like he was about to poison you in front of everyone."

"Semantics," George said, waving her argument off like an annoying fly.

"I don't know about you guys," Jessica interjected before Lauren could say anything else, "but I for one am tired of talking about exams and working hard. I want to dance!"

She grabbed both George and Emily by the elbow, spilling her sweet drink all over George's sleeve, and pulling them both onto the makeshift dance floor, where people were already letting loose to the newest Weird Sisters release.

Lauren knew she needed a little more of the tropical concoction to join, dancing had never been her forte and most of the time, she was more than content to watch her friends making fools out of themselves.

"Are you feeling better?" Fred asked after a few moments of them standing next to each other in silence.

The question came a little out of nowhere for Lauren and she frowned. "What do you mean?" 

Fred turned around to face her and she mirrored the movement, tearing her eyes away from Jessica, now in a strange dance-off with George, while Emily was doubling over with laughter.

Fred didn't say anything, face weirdly serious for a moment and he seemed to be thinking about something.

"I don't know," he finally said, turning back to face the crowd again.

It's not like Lauren didn't know what he was talking about. Because true, she hadn't been herself for weeks now. But that had been mostly because of O.W.L.s creeping up on them like a particularly nasty Dementor, ready to take away their souls with a deadly kiss.

That, and of course Laurens very conflicting feelings that tended to overcome her when she came to think about Fred.

They had been distant, not talking as much as they used to, not spending any time together. Fred was right, it  _ was  _ strange.

"Well," Lauren finally said with a forced but convincing chuckle, "I've been studying so much it surely took off ten years of my life expectancy. So yes, I do feel better, now that exams are over, thanks for asking."

Fred looked at her again, smiling. This time it actually reached his eyes.

"Good," he said, nudging her arm, "got kind of worried how whenever I saw you, you looked more and more like Moaning Myrtle."

Lauren snorted out a laugh, an honest one, this time.

"Shut up, I did not look like Moaning Myrtle."

"You absolutely did, pale face and everything. Only missed the glasses and the pigtails."

"Fred!"

He laughed. Lauren did, too. And again it did something to her insides she'd rather not inspect further out of fear of what she might find.

"Come on, Sherwin, let's dance, you look awfully tense."

Fred took her hand, pulling her along with him.

  
"Fred, no, come on, you know I hate dancing."

He looked over his shoulders, winked. "That's why you have to do it more often, you only hate it because you lack experience."

She huffed. "Or a competent dance partner."

They had almost reached their friends, the small group having grown, more of the twins' Gryffindor friends having joined George, Emily and Jessica. Fred pulled her closer, until Lauren was walking slightly in front of him, still steering her with his hand on the small of her back.

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that," he said, way too close, his breath tickling her ear and Lauren felt a shiver run down her spine.

She downed her drink.

Jessica was right, she really needed more.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

It was close to midnight when Lauren felt it, a dull throbbing behind her eyes, unpleasant and obtrusive.

"Ohhh, did someone have too much to drink?" Jessica said when Lauren pinched the bridge of her nose, a pained expression on her face.

"If you hurl now, I'm going to kill you," Emily added, already half hiding behind George.

If Lauren could, she would've rolled her eyes. But when white dots began clouding her vision, she really couldn't care less about her friends sassing her.

"I'm not drunk," she mumbled, not really a lie, even though her speech came out rather slurred, "I can't see."

Lauren felt a pair of big and warm hands steady her from behind and she leaned against something solid, head lolling forward as if she had lost control over her muscles. Which kind of felt like what was happening, her limbs going soft and unsteady.

"Are you okay?"

It was Fred behind her, she could hear the concern in his voice, but wasn't able to do anything to disperse it.

"No," she said, tried to take a step forward, but her legs felt like jelly. "I really want to go, can we go, please?"

Lauren vaguely felt how her arms were hauled over shoulders, one on her left, one on her right, slim enough to be Emily and Jessica.

  
"You sure you don't want us to help?" Lauren heard George ask, felt Emily on her right shake her head.

"We'll manage."

  
"We should take her to the hospital wing," Fred said, sounding even more concerned.

Lauren could barely hear anything now, urging Emily and Jessica to get going with an annoyed groan. The music was too loud, all of a sudden, there were too many people, the smell of sweat and alcohol making her nauseous.

"Come on, let's get you out," Jessica said while Emily was convincing Fred and George that they did have everything under control.

But Lauren didn't notice how they left the room, how the door closed behind them to all but melt into the wall until there was no trace left that it had ever been there. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, everything was dull first and black a moment later.

And when she opened her eyes, she wasn't at Hogwarts anymore.

Actually, Lauren had no clue where she was.

The room was rectangular, completely made of stone, an auditorium with benches surrounding a pit. There was a stone arch, perched on a dais right in the middle, towering over everything, a tattered old curtain lightly fluttering as if being moved by a slight breeze.

And there were people, fighting, flashing lights and shouting filling the air. A bolt of red lightning going straight through Lauren.

Where was she?

What was that? 

And what was happening?

She looked around, saw Potter, Neville's arm around his shoulder, her cousin's nose bleeding profusely. There was Ron, Ginny, and Granger and… Luna Lovegood?

Lauren was confused. They looked different, all of them, a little older?

Lauren wasn't sure.

By the arch, two people were dueling. A man with long black hair and a woman with dark, wild curls.

"DUMBLEDORE!" Someone was yelling and Lauren whirled around, seeing the Headmaster standing on top of the stairs.

An unseen force made her turn her head again, eyes back on the dueling pair by the arch, as if she was meant to witness what was about to happen next.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" the man yelled, his voice echoing around the rectangular room. He sounded confident, taunting.

Then, a jet of red light hit him, square in the chest, stunned, probably and in an elegant arch, he fell backwards, through the veil.

There was a moment of stunned silence, then the woman began laughing, manically, almost in a fit of hysteria.

Potter's voice ripped through the static in Lauren's ears, filled with so much pain and desperation it made her knees buckle.

  
"Sirius!" Potter yelled. "SIRIUS!"

Lauren turned around, her face suddenly wet with tears, and saw Remus Lupin, her teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, grabbing Potter from behind, the boy straining against his grip, still screaming.

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"-it's too late, Harry."

"We can still reach him-"

"There is nothing you can do, Harry… nothing. He's gone."

Lauren woke up with a start, gasping. She felt the cold hard stone floor underneath her, saw the painted ceiling of the corridor, her vision blurred.

"Lauren? Can you hear me?" Jessica's voice was shaking and Lauren could feel her cool hand on her cheek.

"Y-yes," she stammered, choughed, her throat feeling dry and raspy, "I'm here, I'm awake."

"Lauren, please, what was that, what happened to you?" Emily asked, helping Lauren sit up.

"I don't know," Lauren said, truthfully, because she really did not know. Whatever was happening to her, those strange dreams, passing out in the middle of the corridor. She did not know.

Jessica was rubbing her back and Lauren realised then that she was still crying. Not the heaving sobs that had wracked her body when it had happened last time, but there were still tears streaming down her cheeks.

"You really need to get this checked," Emily said while they helped Lauren stand on unsteady legs. "It's the second time something like this has happened."

Lauren nodded. "I'll talk to my parents tomorrow, there is no use getting worked up now."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

Even though her better judgement told her otherwise, Lauren was reluctant to fulfill this promise. Because yes, something weird was happening with her, something that was definitely not a coincidence or a one time thing. But at the same time, a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach told her that she truly didn't want to open this can of worms.

She had to, though. She knew that.

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

"Not gonna lie, I'm kind of glad to go home this year."

The Hogwarts Express had just set itself in motion, Lauren looking out the window to see the station of Hogsmeade fade into the distance.

"I can't imagine why," Emily said when Jessica finally settled, the three of them sharing a blissfully quiet compartment to themselves. "Sirius Black is out on the run yet again, your favorite teacher has resigned because apparently, he's a werewolf…"

"That's a real shame," Jessica pouted, pulling her legs up onto the seat and crossing them, "Professor Lupin was really cute."

  
"And twice your age."

"So? He was competent and sensitive, I like that."

"Also very attractive?"

"Yes, that, too."

  
  


Lauren snorted out a laugh. "And they say I've got issues."

"You do," Jessica quipped, poking Lauren's thigh across the narrow aisle between their seats, "don't think I've forgotten about Fred."

"I haven't forgotten either, by the way," Emily grinned when Lauren rolled her eyes.

"That's truly a shame," she said rubbing her eyes in annoyance, "because there really is nothing to remember or talk about."

"If you say so," Jessica said, inspecting her nails, her tone saying everything, but not that they were done with this topic.

"We are on vacation now, I want peace and quiet," Lauren sighed, getting comfortable in her seat.

"And the Quidditch World Cup in August!"

"Oh shit, I almost forgot!"

"Fuck, Lauren, the biggest event in the history of ever and you forget," Jessica giggled and Lauren aimed a kick at her shin, missing, when Jessica moved her legs out of the way.

"You be quiet, you're lucky we're taking you."

Emily shook her head. "You don't appreciate enough that Lauren's dad got so many tickets, you cretin."

"Ohhh, you don't worry about me not appreciating Mr Sherwin, I will be eternally grateful I can see Adian Lynch in the flesh," Jessica sighed, "he's so hot."

Talking about Quidditch and gorging on candy from the snack trolley, the time passed rather quickly. Halfway through the journey, Fred and George joined them in their compartment, challenging them to a tournament of Exploding Snap. When they finally rolled into King's Cross station, Lauren almost felt a little sad to not see her friends for the next few weeks.

"Write us, Lauren," Emily said when they hugged goodbye after passing through the barrier. "You guys are due visiting me this year, my mum is looking forward more to it than me."

"I promise, I'll miss you guys."

Jessica always shed a few tears when they parted for the holidays, it's tradition.

"What are you crying about, Pierce? Already missing me?"

"You wish, Weasley."

The twins both hugged Emily and Jessica, Lauren watching them with a smile on her lips.

"You think you can handle not seeing my handsome face for almost two months?" Fred asked when he hugged Lauren goodbye.

Lauren poked him in the ribs. "You're quite full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Don't you know what they say? Confidence is attractive," he said, letting Lauren go just enough to look at her.

"Confidence, yes, not a big head filled with hot air."

Fred grabs his chest in feigned offense. "You wound me. And here I thought we had something special."

"Shut up," Lauren said, but there was absolutely no heat behind her words.

Saying goodbye felt weird, this year. Her mother waited for Lauren and Michael, together with Arthur and Molly, collecting the Weasley children and stuffing everyone into Ministry cars, attracting the attention of pretty much everyone in the station. It was a big commotion, as always, big trunks being heaved, owls screeching and people laughing.

But honestly? Lauren wouldn't have it any other way.

  
  
  
  
  



	5. The Quidditch World Cup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Hope you guys made it through the holidays, celebrating or not, in one piece! I know I've taken quite a while with this one, the chapter was sitting in my documents, halfway written, for almost two months... Work and life were terribly overwhelming for a while and that always kills my drive to write quite spectacularly. But, all of a sudden, I found that spark I needed and finished the whole thing in two days.
> 
> So! To everyone who is still here, reading, enjoying, commenting even, thank you for sticking around, I really appreciate it! :)

"Tell me again why we had to get up at the crack of dawn?"

Emily spoke without turning around. "So we'll reach our Portkey at Stoatshead Hill on time."

"Yes, I know, it was more of a rhetorical kind of question. I just wanted to bring across how much I'm not enjoying this adventure so far."

Jessica had started complaining about half an hour after they had left the Fawcetts' home. They had spent a very short night in Emily's room, talking, eating, giggling and getting not nearly enough sleep. When they got woken up by Mrs Fawcett at four in the morning, they had all agreed it was way too early.

"We know you're not a morning person," Lauren said, walking next to Emily, while Jessica was lagging behind, cursing and complaining.

Emily scoffed. "Neither are we."

The dark circles under her eyes were just as bad as everyone else's, but the prospect of seeing the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup filled both Lauren and Emily with enough energy to make their way to the meeting point half asleep. Jessica, of course, was of a different opinion.

"I don't even know why I'm here, I don't even like Quidditch."

"Sarah would have loved to take your spot. You know my parents didn't get tickets, you saw her crying when we left."

Jessica said nothing, because yes, she did see Sarah, Emily's younger sister, cry when they left. Heartbroken, devastated, crushed. At least that's what Sarah said, when Mrs Fawchett tried to calm her with a comforting mug of hot chocolate.

Jessica sighed, as if the whole weight of the world was on her shoulders. "Fine, I'll shut up and be grateful that Mr Sherwin got us top tier seats. At least I'll see Aidan Lynch's fine arse later tonight."

Lauren hitched her backpack up a little higher. "If that's the prospect that keeps you walking, I don't even care."

"It's Aidan Lynch or Ethan and since Ethan will be on duty, she has to drool after someone else," Emily shrugged and Lauren shoved her. Jessica behind them gasped.

"I heard that, you rat!"

Lauren chuckled, thinking about her older brother, who himself had been very devastated at the news that he would not be able to attend the game. Or see his family over the summer.

"See, that's why you don't become a Hit-Wizard," Jessica said, as if reading Lauren's thoughts, slowly catching up with them. "You have a job so dangerous you have your own bed at St. Mungo's, your schedule is a nightmare and you spend your life chasing dangerous wizards across the globe."

Lauren chuckles. "Ethan loves his job."

"I know," Jessica sighed, "it's his calling. That daredevil."

"Not worth it to miss the Quidditch World Cup, though," Emily said.

"I agree."

Lauren's family in general hasn't been lucky this year. Ethan, being in the team assigned with the hunt for Sirius Black, was currently in more tropical realms, too occupied to even think about Quidditch. And for her parents, it had been simply bad luck. As a high ranking official at the Department of Law Enforcement, her father Jonathan was deeply entwined in the World Cup's security measures, he had been swamped with work for months. Elizabeth had stayed behind, sacrificing her ticket for Michael, who had never been to an event of this size and who was probably the most excited out of all of them.

"Looks like we're the first ones," Lauren said when they reached the top of the hill, huffing and puffing and already slightly sweaty. Even keeping up with her Quidditch regimen hadn't prepared her for climbing up a steep hill on three hours of sleep.

Jessica dropped down in the dewey grass, flinging her backpack onto the ground next to her. "Good, I need a break, my lungs are on fire."

For a while, they remained in silence, each of them catching their breath and watching the sun slowly crawl across the horizon.

"I hope Mr Weasley will be alright, chaperoning a bunch of teenagers," Emily said after a few minutes. 

"Bill, Charlie and Percy will be there as well, he won't be alone," Lauren said, counting them off on her fingers. "Plus, the only ones truly to be worried about are Fred and George."

"Are they really going to bring that candy they've been working on?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lauren shrugged. "Probably. They said in their last letter they've been developing and testing that stuff all summer long."

Jessica shook her head, tutting. "So much energy, wasted on this. If they put only half that effort into their school work, they'd be top of the class."

Lauren snorted. "As if they ever cared about school work."

"Who doesn't care about school work?"

Both Lauren and Emily started with a yelp when suddenly, George Weasley appeared between them, eyes very tired but a smile on his face.

"Merlin's  _ ballsack _ , George," Lauren cursed, clutching her chest, "you can't just sneak up on people like that."

"Oh, but I absolutely can!"

Emily punched him in the shoulder, Jessica just giggled like a maniac, still sprawled like a starfish on the moist grass.

"Good one, George," Fred said, catching up with his twin and giving him a resounding high-five. 

"Where's the rest?" Jessica asked, craning her neck to look in the direction from where the twins had come from.

"Cozying up with the Diggorys," Fred said, looking just slightly annoyed.

"We met them at the foot of the hill," George supplied when the girls looked at them, confused. 

Fred scoffed. "Mr Diggory got a little overexcited when he met Harry."

"Almost peed himself, I reckon."

"Yeah, couldn't help himself embarrassing the bloke to hell and back by reminding everyone his son beat him at Quidditch," Fred said, looking so grim it was almost comical. "Conveniently forgetting that we won the cup in the end."

"Yes, rub it in, will you?" Lauren said, grimly, not having forgotten Ravenclaw's last missed swipe at the cup. And what had caused it. At least Fred had the decency to look a little ashamed. But only a little.

"Here they come," Jessica said, getting up, rather eager to forcefully change the subject.

And true, turning around, Lauren saw a rather large group of people climbing up the hill, happily chattering. Or rather Mr Diggory was chattering, laughing loudly, all of a sudden. Everyone else looked rather tired. Especially Mr Weasley.

It was a mess. Greetings, introductions, too many people on the same spot. And a Portkey they had to first find and then catch. Ten minutes, according to Mr Weasley.

"Hey, Sherwin!"

  
For the second time this morning, Lauren violently flinched (she had spaced out rather spectacularly, her tiredness suddenly almost overwhelming with how many people were surrounding her) and she let out a string of very crude and violent curses.

"Not a morning person, I suppose?" Cedric Diggory said, clearly amused, stepping into her line of sight and Lauren felt herself flush furiously.

"No, not really," she admitted, feeling rather sheepish at her radiant display of potty mouth. "Sorry about that."   
  
Cedric didn't seem to be bothered by it, waving her off. He grinned instead. "Don't mention it. Did you have a nice summer so far?"

"Yeah, pretty calm and quiet. Spent some time with Emily and Jessica, but other than that," Lauren shrugged, not really sure how in depth she wanted to go into how she almost had a nervous breakdown the days leading up to receiving her O.W.L. results.

Which were more than satisfactory, by the way.

"How about you?"

They got a little lost in smalltalk, Cedric telling her about visiting his aunt and uncle in Switzerland and thinking about a new training regimen for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. At least until the Portkey was found.

"Cedric, Cedric, always the ladies man," said Mr Diggory in a booming voice, heartily clapping his son's back, "no time to flirt, my boy, we have a Portkey to catch."

Cedric looked like he'd love for the ground to swallow him whole and Lauren felt very much the same way. Especially, when she caught Emily's and Jessica's eyes.

"Flirting, huh?" Jessica whispered when they grouped around the old boot. Which proved rather difficult with thirteen people and there was some stacking happening. Emily almost knocked the glasses straight off Harry Potter's nose with her elbow by accident.

"I wasn't flirting," Lauren grit through her teeth, trying to get a finger onto the dirty old boot. Michael, who was belly down on the ground beneath her, fake retched, Lauren pinched his side.

"Sure you weren't," Jessica grinned wolfishly, "but I bet Diggory was."

Before Lauren could say or do anything else, the Portkey activated, she felt the familiar pull from right behind her navel and her surroundings were swept away in a blur of colors.

Lauren had never managed to figure out how to make a graceful landing when traveling by Portkey. This time as well she violently fell back to the ground, Michael yelping under the force of her weight, the air knocked right out of him. There was a foot very close to Lauren's face and she vaguely recognised Jessica's trainers.

Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory and also Cedric seemed to have fared a lot better than the rest of them, all three of them with both feet solidly on the ground. Everyone else was lying strewn across the lawn, groaning and complaining.

Out of the corner of her eye Lauren could see movement, Cedric had noticed her struggling to get up with Michael squirming under her back. But before he could properly extend his hand to help her, Lauren felt herself being pulled up rather roughly by the wrists, all but flying onto her feet.

The momentum had Lauren lose her footing on the wet grass, crashing right into Fred's chest with her nose. 

"Ow," she said into his jumper, voice muffled, not able to satisfy the urge to rub her nose because he was still holding her wrists with a vice like grip.

There was a mumbled "Sorry," from Fred that Lauren barely caught and when she looked up to tell him off for manhandling her like some sort of ragdoll, he had let her go as if burned, turning around so quickly it was like nothing had happened.

"That was weird," Emily suddenly said from right next to Lauren, watching Fred walk ahead with George.

"What?"

"Yeah, that was really weird," Jessica agreed from her other side, looking fascinated.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lauren said, feeling frustration bubble up in her stomach. Cedric was talking to his father and Mr Weasley now, back turned to them and Lauren felt like she was missing something vital here.

"Of course you don't," Emily said, nudging her with her shoulder and walking on ahead. "You're pretty smart, but you're also really really dumb."

"I wouldn't call it dumb, rather devastatingly oblivious," Jessica said, wiggling her eyebrows at Lauren.

"Oh shut up, both of you!"

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Lauren didn't feel like she slept more than a few minutes when Emily shook her awake again.

"What time is it?" she asked, sitting up in her bed and trying to get her surroundings back in focus.

"Almost noon," Emily croaked, her hair sticking up at the back of her head.

Lauren groaned, let herself fall back onto the covers. "Noon? We slept for what, four hours?"

Jessica stirred awake in that moment, a mumbling heap across the room, a sentiment both Lauren and Emily could agree on.

"Worst trip ever," she croaked from underneath her blanket, and even though Lauren would've loved to argue with her on this, she was way too exhausted.

They spent a few minutes getting dressed, almost falling over each other, half asleep and disoriented, but they managed to leave the tent at least looking like human beings again. And actually leaving the tent proved to be the best idea they had. Well, despite the sticky humidity of the mid August summer sun. Lauren could feel the back of her shirt sticking to her skin rather uncomfortably. But, with the precision of a hound, Jessica caught the scent of the fresh coffee Arthur had brewed over a merrily crackling fire.

After a while, he excused himself, entrusting the girls with keeping an eye on the tents so he could make his rounds, having seen more than a few familiar faces in the crowd. And with everyone else gone, the three of them were left alone to their own devices.

"Okay, this isn't too bad, if I'm completely honest," Jessica said after a while, comfortable in a camping chair, a mug of strong black coffee in her hands.

Lauren grunted. "Worst trip ever, not too bad, are you done changing your mind?"

"Absolutely not."

They sat by the small fire for a while, content with simply watching the people passing. Jessica was especially fascinated by all the eccentricities of the wizarding population, five years at Hogwarts never enough to fully immerse herself in the otherness.

Lauren allowed herself to let her mind wander a little, exhaustion making way for an almost meditative calm, the noise of the camping grounds nothing more than a pleasant hum around them.

The holidays were almost over, June and July having flown by before Lauren's eyes and in between worrying about OWL results, dealing with the implications of her newfound gift, staying in shape for the new Quidditch season (Roger had written the whole team threatening letters with personal regimens, the shame of losing the cup yet again running too deep for the captain) and trying to make light of her feelings for one Fred Weasley, Lauren didn't find all that much time for some good old relaxation.

"If you keep frowning like that, you'll get wrinkles."

Lauren jumps in her seat, spilling some of her tea onto her sneakers. 

"You being my friend is giving me wrinkles," she hissed, uselessly dabbing her shoes with a handkerchief. 

Emily shrugged. "Occupational hazard."

"You just looked like you were trying to grind your brain into the ground and maybe you would like to talk about it, is what she was trying to say," Jessica said, setting her now empty mug down into the grass and settling more comfortably into her chair.

Emily gave her a thumbs up. "Exactly."

Lauren mulled it over for a second. 

"I just realised that my holiday wasn't that much of a holiday so far, that's all," she finally decided on saying.

"You mean being a bloody seer isn't something you just get over? Pathetic," Jessica chuckled and Lauren wanted to smack her, but decided against it, leaning across the fire to do so seemed like too much effort. And too dangerous. 

"It's a big part of my everlasting stress, yes, thank you very much," Lauren said, rubbing her eyes until she saw stars. "I still don't quite get it and I'm not sure I really want it."

Which was true.

As part of her promise, she had talked to her parents about what had happened, recounted both her visions in as much detail as she could remember. What she hadn't expected was her mother breaking down in tears and her father looking absolutely and utterly defeated.

Turned out her mother had the same gift, burdened ever since she was about the same age as Lauren was now. And yes, it was a burden, Elizabeth had said. Seeing people die over and over again was not the gift people were making it out to be.

And that's all she saw. Death. Something that Lauren would learn how to deal with, too.

"You will report to Professor Dumbledore, every time it happens," Elizabeth had made Lauren promise. "He will know what to do with the information. Because no matter what happens, you must never act on what you see."

"I don't get it, though," Emily said, "why you're not allowed to do literally anything with the information you get."

After some consideration, Emily and Jessica were entrusted with Lauren's secret, and Elizabeth had asked them to keep an eye on her daughter, support her whenever it might be necessary. And Lauren was glad. Keeping something as big as this from her friends would have been hard enough, but not able to confide in them? Impossible, almost.

"You know what Mrs Sherwin told us," Jessica said, poking the glowing embers of the campfire with a long stick to keep them going, "it's way too dangerous to interfere with fate like that."

"I get what she tried to say, but I still don't understand it," Emily said, running a hand through her hair. "But it's bad enough having no control over seeing that shit. Not being able to do anything about it? A nightmare."

"Tell me about it," Lauren huffed, remembering the bone chilling fear she had felt after her first vision, the one, she couldn't even see properly.

"It's not like you could make it worse for the people involved, they're already dying."

"Yes, but I could endanger other people," Lauren sighed, remembering her mother's words, "or even be the catalyst for the events in the vision to take place at all."

"This is so messed up," Jessica said, looking at Lauren like she was about to jump across the fire and hug her.

"Will that come between you and your plans of becoming a healer?" Emily asked, busying herself with the tea kettle.

"I don't know," Lauren said, feeling defeated by the thought her lifelong dream might go up in flames because of her new condition. "Mum doesn't think it would affect me too much, but only time will tell."

Emily huffed. "Sounds like a real bummer."

"Totally. Especially after my O.W.L.s were actually pretty good and I will be able to take all the required N.E.W.T.s," Lauren said, suddenly feeling defeated.

"Stop that," Jessica said at that and when Lauren looked at her, she actually looked stern. "You will become a healer, you worked your ass off for those stupid O.W.L.s, you almost destroyed all the friendships you have because of the stress. This stupid seer thing will not interfere with that, you got it?"

Lauren felt a wave of love and appreciation for her friend wash over her like a calming breeze. And despite Jessica looking at her like she was about to hand Lauren her ass on a silver platter, Lauren smiled.

"Got it."

Jessica nodded. "You better do."

Just then the remaining Weasleys, Bill, Charlie and Percy, arrived at the campsite, the girls' little heart to heart interrupted. Especially when Jessica immediately took the chance to take Charlie aside and grill him about his job. Her wanting to work with dragons after Hogwarts was not exactly a secret and secretly, Lauren believed this was the only reason Jessica actually agreed to accompany them to this event.

But Charlie didn't seem to mind inquisitive Jessica picking his brain about dragons, quite the contrary. He was all too willing to talk about what he did at the sanctuary in Romania.

Soon after that, everyone else from their rather large traveling group began trickling back to their tents for lunch and different people stopping for small talk, mostly with Arthur. 

"That was a bad idea," Lauren later said, watching Ludo Bagman leave with his jingling bag of Galleons, Barty Crouch walking ahead of him and trying his best to not look too annoyed.

"Why?" George asked, looking rather pleased with himself after he and Fred bet all of their savings on Ireland winning the cup but Krum catching the Snitch.

Lauren shrugged. "Dad always says he's a sack of shit with a gambling addiction, you can sure kiss that money goodbye."

The twins both opened their mouths to protest, but Emily joined in, oblivious to the conversation.

"Any idea what 'big event taking place at Hogwarts' they were talking about?"

"I don't know," Lauren sighed, letting herself get distracted all too willingly. "Mum and dad have been dropping hints all summer long that something big is going to happen, but I thought they were just teasing."

They debated about what could happen at Hogwarts that had all the adults up in a right frenzy, but were soon distracted by the prospect of buying some overpriced World Cup merchandise.

"Now this is money well spent," Jessica beamed, proudly showing off her new figurine of Ireland Seeker Aidan Lynch, his mini-me strutting up and down the palm of her hand, looking very haughty and important.

Lauren got herself some Omniculars and a scarf in Ireland colors. After having spent a good chunk of her allowance on new muggle romance novels and a new set of Quidditch gear, there wasn't too much left to spend.

"You reckon we'll see Diggory around?" Emily asked, pretending to be immersed in the programme book she just got.

Lauren barely managed to look unbothered, knowing full well what she was talking about. "Why? You want to see him?"

"You know she's not talking about herself," Jessica said with a wicked grin, hooking her arm into Lauren's. 

"Think Fred's going to punch him next time Diggory talks to Lauren?" Emily continued to tease and this time Lauren couldn't help the eyeroll.

"Why would he do that?"

"Ohh, why would he?" Jessica laughed, sounding positively demonic, "why would he indeed!"

Lauren tried shaking her off, once again feeling like she was missing something, something rather vital, but Jessica held onto her with an iron grip, giggling like she was possessed.

"I'm absolutely rooting for Diggory, he's got balls," Emily said and Jessica roared with laughter.

Starting to get annoyed, Lauren finally managed to free herself from Jessica.

"You two are the absolute worst."

She really didn't know what they were on about. Fred and George never really liked Cedric, yes, especially after the fateful Quidditch match the previous year. But Cedric was friendly, easy to talk to and pleasant to be around, Lauren wasn't mad getting along with him well lately. 

Yes, it did come out of the blue, even for her, but why not just go along with it? Friendships had arisen out of stranger circumstances.

And she really couldn't care less about the twins' opinion. Lauren was very well capable about choosing who she wanted to be friends with, she wouldn't let this stupid Quidditch rivalry the boys were so keen to keep up getting in the way of this.

While Jessica was still busy almost peeing herself with laughter, Emily looked at Lauren, really looked at her, like she was trying to look into her soul. Lauren didn't like it. It made her feel bare and vulnerable without saying a word or doing a single thing.

"You really don't know, do you?" she asked, but none of the teasing undertone was left.

"No," Lauren said, pretending to look for something in her bag, still feeling that weird mixture of shame and anger bubbling in her stomach, "I don't."

Emily looked like she wanted to say something, but right in that moment a faraway gong sounded across the camping grounds and countless lanterns ignited themselves along the path to the woods leading towards the stadium.

"It's time," Arthur calls from somewhere in front of them and it is as if someone flipped a switch inside Lauren. Forgotten were the teasing remarks, the bubbling anger, all that remained was the low hum of excitement.

"Holy shit," Lauren mumbled, "this is really happening."

"I didn't even realise it's almost time," Emily next to her said, eyes wide. "You got the tickets?"

Lauren's hands were shaking just a little when she reached into her bag to pull out the envelope. "Got them."

"More climbing, I can't believe it," Jessica complained when they were making their way up the purple carpeted stairs to the top of the stadium.

"Shut up and walk, Pierce, this is a once in a lifetime experience," Emily said over her shoulder, eyes all but glowing with excitement.

"We've got the best seats in the house and you still find something to nag about."

Jessica looked belligerent. "Careful, Sherwin, or someone might trip you."

When they finally reached the top of the stairs and stepped into the top box, Lauren barely noticed the opulent golden framed and purple cushioned chairs, the sheer size of the stadium threatened to completely overwhelm her.

"It's big from the outside, but it's simply gigantic from the inside," she managed to squeeze out, the low rumble of the crowd tickling in her stomach.

"It's incredible," Emily next to her said, voice filled with awe. "They said it seats over a hundred thousand people."

"Lauren, where is my seat? Where is my seat?" Michael came bouncing, ripping Lauren out of her awe induced stupor.

"Right, yeah, give me a second," she said, fumbling with their tickets. Locating their seats was easy, they were right in the middle of the second row, slightly raised above the first for an optimal view of the field.

"Okay, this is awesome," Jessica said from two seats down, mouth half open while taking in the atmosphere, "this is really awesome."

Emily, on Lauren's left, chuckled. "Told you."

"This is the coolest thing I have ever experienced," Michael said on Lauren's other side, pressing his omniculars against his eyes so violently, Lauren was worried he'd leave marks.

"You guys ready to see some world class Quidditch?" George asked from right in front of them, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Sure you know what world class Quidditch is, Weasley?" Emily grinned, looking like she was about to step onto the pitch herself. "Pay attention, you might learn a thing or two."

Lauren tuned out their banter, way too focused on processing everything that was going on around them. The noise, the people, the sheer size of the stadium. Her gaze ran over the giant blackboard on the other side, right across the Minister's Box, advertisements flitting across the screen in golden letters.

"Can you believe how lucky we got with these seats?" Fred asked, arm making a sweeping gesture to point at, well, everything. "I actually don't care how this game ends, I already feel like a winner just being here."

"Agreed," Lauren said, still unable to close her mouth properly. "I'm a little overwhelmed, if I'm completely honest."

Fred grinned. "Rightfully so."

"Just imagine playing now, I think I'd shit myself," Emily said, elbowing Lauren in the ribs.

Lauren snorted out a laugh. "Shit, puke, faint, all of the above."

"But it would be fantastic."

"Absolutely, not a single regret."

The box was slowly filling with more very important people, both foreign emissaries and from their own Ministry. Lauren didn't care much, only joined the twins' snickering at Percy trying to shake as many hands as physically possible. But then the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, stepped into the box with his own entourage.

"It's starting, it's starting," Emily breathed next to her, bouncing like an overenthusiastic rubber ball, when Ludo Bagman took his spot as commentator.

"Ohhh, they will introduce the mascots of each country, first," Michael next to Lauren said, excitedly pulling his sister's sleeve, before Bagman could even announce what was about to happen.

"Let's see what they got," Jessica yelled, all pretense dropped.

It was soon clear what the Bulgarians have brought when a murmur went through the crowd and all eyes were fixed to the pitch where a hundred out of this world beautiful women had glided gracefully onto the juicy green grass.

"Veela," someone exclaimed rather excitedly and Lauren would've loved watching the beautiful women dancing down on the pitch, but it was a lot more entertaining to watch the people around her, especially the boys and men, making elaborate fools out of themselves.

She saw Ron getting up, readying himself for something that looked like an elegant dive into a pool, Potter next to him in some form of similar position. Percy a few seats further, puffing out his chest importantly, being held down by a giggling Bill right next to him.

"Their beauty is supposed to be as captivating as a spell," Emily said, looking around with an amused chuckle. "Captivating and deadly."

Lauren sent a worried glance to her brother on her right, but Michael looked at the Veela with healthy curiosity and only mild interest, not a deathwish.

"Funny what a beautiful woman can do to a man," Fred said from right in front of Lauren, seemingly not the least bit affected and watching his father and Hermione prevent Ron from doing something rather stupid.

"Losing their heads, the lot of them," George said, looking just as amused.

"Don't tell me you're not affected at all," Lauren said with a raised brow, just this close to being actually impressed. Even she had to admit, the Veela were beautiful.

Fred looked at her, a glint in his eyes that made her stomach do a backflip.

"I don't need a Veela to charm me."

It was actually kind of good that in that moment, Emily rammed her elbow right into Lauren's cheek trying to prevent Jessica from jackknifing off the top box with a resounding "Holy fucking shit, stop that!" Together with George, who had gotten out of his seat, they managed to wrestle a glassy eyed Jessica back into her chair.

"What the fuck was that?" Jessica asked when she finally snapped out of it, Bagman already announcing the mascots of the irish team.

"Looks like you just found out something quite interesting about yourself," Lauren grinned, slapping Jessica's knee, while Emily giggled rather hysterically. 

Jessica still looked like someone had poured a bucket of ice cold water over her head, but then the irish mascots came in under thunderous applause.

"Don't bother, it won't last," Lauren said when both Emily and Jessica started scooping the golden coins from the ground that started raining from the sky when the Leprechauns swept over them in their colorful formation.

Jessica dropped the fake Galleons back on the floor. "Bugger."

The ceremony went on for a few moments, Lauren feeling the nervous excitement in the stadium rise with every passing second, almost tangible in the cheering of the crowd. The referee stepped onto the field, mighty important, under polite applause.

But then the teams came in and the noise turned to be almost unbearable.

Lauren felt herself getting swept out of her seat with excitement, whooping when the Irish players got announced.

And then it started.

Lauren has never in her life seen Quidditch like that. Not even on the rare occasions her father had taken the family to a game of the Bellycastle Bats, Lauren's favorite team in the league.

"This is insane," Emily yelled, her Omniculars pressed so heavily onto her eyes Lauren was worried she might hurt herself, "this is absolutely insane!"

Lauren couldn't help but agree. They knew the irish Chasers were superb, the articles in the Prophet nothing but praise on the trio. Their moves were seamless, flawless, as if they were reading each other's minds, knowing each move two steps before it was made.

"We're going to teach Cho how to do this, she's going to be unstoppable," Emily said after Krum made Lynch crash into the ground with the Wronski Feint. "I don't care how long it takes, but that was  _ sick _ !"

"Poor Aiden, he doesn't look too good," Jessica said, standing as well, watching as Aiden Lynch went more than a little cross eyed while getting examined by the mediwizards.

"He will survive," Lauren grinned, watching Lynch mount his broom again under thunderous applause, still looking a little out of it. "But he won't catch the Snitch like that."

"If Ireland keeps scoring like that, he won't need to," Emily said right after Troy scored another point.

It was a feast. The game was fast and dirty, the players obviously gave absolutely everything.

Lauren felt like she was playing herself, almost seeing herself on that pitch, riding a Firebolt in England's white and red robes, the number five on her back underneath the bold letters spelling out her last name…

Suddenly, the noise in the stadium swelled to an almost unbearable volume, a hundred thousand witches and wizards rising from their seats as Krum and Lynch both fell into a murderous dive again.

"Oh my god, that idiot, they're going to lose," Jessica yelled, watching Krum put his full weight into the dive, face scarlet with the blood from his nose.

Lauren felt a sudden surge of empathy for the bulgarian Seeker, Bludgers were a menace.

"He's got it! The game is over, it's over," Emily all but screamed, jumping up and down, watching Krum take a lap, arm raised high.

"He ended the game on his own terms," Lauren said, watching the irish team collapse onto a celebrating pile in the middle of the pitch. "The irish Chasers were too good, Bulgaria would have never been able to get a big enough lead."

"Hear hear," Emily yelled, grabbing Lauren's shoulders and shaking her like a madwoman.

The ceremony went by in a blur, Lauren feeling a little starstruck when the players of both teams filed into the Minister's Box to receive their honours.

"These people are legends," she said to Emily when the Irish got the trophy, "we can only  _ dream  _ of playing like that."

"We're going to train so hard next year, the other teams won't know what hit them," Emily said, chest puffed out and a determined glint in her eyes. Lauren felt it, too, the inspiration, the urge to pick up her broom and get back to training right this instant.

Jessica was watching them with a tired look on her face. Tired, but fond. "The two of you are going to be unbearable, right?"

"Don't think you guys are the only ones inspired now," George said, appearing back in his seat, a nice and heavy bag of Galleons in his hands. Lauren was honestly surprised, Bagman seemed to have paid up.

"We're going to crush you," Fred added, grinning, "you won't know what hit you."

"Hopefully not another one of your bludgers, Lauren hasn't been the same ever since yours hit her last year," Jessica said with a wolfish grin.

"Oh, shut up, will you?" Lauren said, almost tripping when trying to punch her friend's shoulder.

They slowly made their way back down the plush purple carpet of the staircase, recounting their favorite maneuvers, formations they wanted to try.

"Too bad it's already over," Emily said while they were walking back to their tents, thousands of voices amidst the trees and along the lantern-lit path.

"I wouldn't have minded a days long match," Lauren said, not actually caring about the implications that might have had. Like the lack of sleep, food and literally anything else.

"That would've been so awesome," Emily agreed, eyes unfocusing dreamily for a second.

Jessica fake retched. "That would've been absolutely not awesome."

"Come on, admit it, you had fun," Lauren said, elbowing her with a grin. "You saw Aiden Lynch just an arms length away, isn't that enough to keep you sustained for the next months?"

"Oh shut up!"

"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"~.*.~"

Even though she was exhausted beyond imagination, Lauren thought she hadn't been this happy in a long time. They were all sitting in the living room of the biggest of the Weasley tents, crammed onto the sofas and armchairs, the floor, over each other, anywhere really, beverages in their hands, debating and discussing the game in every minute detail.

Percy, Hermione and Jessica were the first ones to retire, the three of them the least interested in Quidditch on a technical level. Lauren felt tired to the bone herself, but she had to physically talk about how great the irish Chasers were, or she felt like she might have exploded. Only when Ginny spilled hot chocolate all over herself because she fell asleep while sitting, Michael next to her already gently snoring with his head on her shoulder, Arthur decided to call it a night.

"Hey," Emily said right before they ducked through the entrance of their own tent, grabbing Lauren by the arm.

"What?"

Emily looked uncomfortable, not really able to meet Lauren's eye.

"You know, about earlier, I haven't forgotten and I'm sorry," she said, not letting go of Lauren's arm. It took Lauren a good few moments to get what she was talking about, Emily and Jessica teasing her mercilessly, right before the gong summoned them to the stadium.

"Forget it," she said, waving Emily off like it wasn't a big deal.

"No, Lauren, listen, I'm really sorry," Emily said, her grip around Lauren's wrist strengthening. "I know we went too far with the teasing, you were hurt and we didn't mean to do that."

Lauren blamed it on the exhaustion, the lingering adrenaline, the excitement of the last twenty four hours, but she felt like she might be about to cry. Feeling this vulnerable wasn't one of Lauren's favorites or strengths, but Emily was looking at her with such sincere worry in her eyes, she might just as well let it happen.

"Forgiven and forgotten," she said and Emily enveloped her in a bone crushing hug, which was weird in itself. Neither Lauren nor Emily were big huggers, that was more Jessica's line of work. 

"You really need some help figuring this shit out," Emily said, patting Lauren's back.

It made Lauren snort out a wet chuckle. "I sure as fuck do."

Emily released her, looked at Lauren way too seriously. "You know you can talk to us about this, right? I know this thing with Fred has kept that brain of yours quite busy."

Lauren groaned. "Is it that obvious?"

"Extremely obvious."

"Well, fuck."

Emily chuckled, finally opening the flap to your tent. "We'll figure it out. You're not the first girl in love with her childhood friend."

"I'm not in love with him," Lauren hissed through her teeth, not wanting to wake Jessica up.

"You so are," Emily whispered, looking for her pyjamas.

When Lauren slipped underneath the covers of her bed, it wasn't only the Irish, wildly celebrating their victory, that kept her awake for longer than she might have wanted. 

Maybe it was also a pair of honey eyes and a smile that made her insides form a conga line.

But no one had to know. 

Especially not Emily.

  
  



End file.
